Interesting story out of Minnesota today. Last March, the Minnesota Department of Human Services erroneously sent a check for $2.6 million dollars to a high school employee after mistyping a single digit in directing the check. Instead of going to the Hennepin County Medical Center, the check went to 37 year old Sabrina Walker, an ‘equity and integration specialist’ offering student support at Hopkins High School in Minneapolis.
The interesting thing, aside from how such a mistake could be made and not noticed for two months, is how Ms. Walker spent the money. She and her boyfriend did have a bit of a shopping spree. They purchased luxury cars (a classic Buick, Chrysler Crossfire, and two Land Rovers), $5,500 in jewelry and $3,800 in electronics.
But she also opened a portfolio account at Wells Fargo, with a $100,000 opening deposit linked to a $2.4 million dollar brokerage account. She also maxed out her Roth IRA (individual retirement account) and purchased a $500,000 U.S. treasury bond. She told Wells Fargo that the money came from a sealed settlement with the state.
And she might have gotten away with it for longer than she did. The error wasn’t discovered until Ms. Walker herself called a financial services employee of the state’s Department of Human Services on May 17 to ask why she had received the money. The state has now requested the money’s return and charged Walker and her boyfriend with four felony counts: theft by swindle, loss of property, failure to pay over state funds and concealing criminal proceeds over $5,000.
What would you have done if you were put in such a position? I’m sure I would have reported the error immediately (if only due to the guilt that would come from knowing it was an obvious mistake to which I wasn’t entitled). While ethically dodgy, part of me *theoretically* could see how one might feel entitled to any interest accrued before returning the initial amount when the state notices its own error. What do you think? The comments are open…