If you noticed that your monthly salary amount paid to you was way higher than the normal amount, what would you do? Would you return the money or pretend nothing happened?
A Chilean man pulled off what most would consider an unthinkable and impossible move after he was accidentally paid a wage that was hundreds of times more than the usual monthly amount.
Man in Chile mistakenly paid salary 330 times more than usual
According to a report by Daily Mail, the man, who worked as a food company assistant, was mistakenly paid 165 million pesos (RM724,185) by his employers in May 2022.
This was 330 times higher than his monthly salary, which was supposed to be 500,000 pesos (approx. RM2,194).
The company alleged that the man initially agreed to return the cash during a meeting with the firm’s HR department.
Quits job & triumphs against ex-bosses in court
However, the man resigned from the job three days later, leading his former bosses to file a lawsuit against him for theft.
If convicted, he faces a fine and spending 540 days in jail.
The lawsuit dragged on for the next three years but it eventually came to a surprising ending with the court ruling in the man’s favour, where the judge said he hadn’t committed theft but “unauthorised collection” — a crime that’s not punishable in court.
While the man can now rejoice over the verdict, his former bosses aren’t letting go so easily and are still on the hunt to recover the money.
The company told Chilean economic newspaper Diario Financiero that it will “take all possible legal steps, particularly an application for annulment, to have the ruling reviewed.”
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