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Woman Finds $10 Billion in Checking Account
AP ^
| 10/23/02
Posted on 10/23/2002 12:44:46 PM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
By Associated Press
October 23, 2002, 11:33 AM EDT
STOCKHOLM, Sweden --
When Gun-Britt Marklund checked her bank account to see whether her monthly child allowance check had arrived from the Swedish government, she knew that what she saw was too good to be true.
Her account showed a balance of more than 93 billion kronor (US$10 billion) on Sunday.
"You never see amounts like this," said the 40-year-old teacher and mother of three children, ages 10, 13 and 15. "I thought this money doesn't belong to me. Something must be wrong."
Marklund's hunch was correct. On Monday, she informed her bank of the inflated child allowance payment -- twice the size of Sweden's defense budget -- and the bank acted swiftly.
An employee had punched in a few too many zeros when funneling payments from the social insurance office into Marklund's account, ICA Bank spokesman Bo Lagergren said.
The transaction was canceled and gone were the 93 billion kronor along with 15 million kronor (US$1.6 million) of interest accrued over the three days before the error was detected.
Lagergren said the bank had sent Marklund a bouquet of flowers along with apologies.
"We hope she'll be happy with that," Lagergren said. "But it's of course very difficult to find compensation on this level."
Marklund, who lives in Haernoesand, 350 kilometers (220 miles) north of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, said her child allowance is normally 3,000 kronor (US$322) a month.
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
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To: john in missouri
She can't be a Democrat. She saw that the money wasn't hers and did the honest, honorable thing.
21
posted on
10/23/2002 12:59:45 PM PDT
by
Poohbah
To: 11th Earl of Mar
monthly child allowance check had arrived from the Swedish government What is that?...Does anyone in these countries work?...No wonder they must import workers...What a nightmare...Coming to USA next?
22
posted on
10/23/2002 1:00:06 PM PDT
by
dakine
To: Tired of Taxes
When they asked one woman, "Didn't you know that the $100,000 wasn't yours?" She responded, "But, I was praying for it, and I thought God gave it to me." The proof that God really gave it to you is when the bank doesn't ask for it back.
To: dakine
Well, give her credit. She might be a socialist, but she's an honest one.
24
posted on
10/23/2002 1:03:02 PM PDT
by
RichInOC
To: 11th Earl of Mar
So, you are saying Moose sent the 10B to the wrong account?
25
posted on
10/23/2002 1:03:39 PM PDT
by
CFW
To: hopespringseternal
When they asked one woman, "Didn't you know that the $100,000 wasn't yours?" She responded, "But, I was praying for it, and I thought God gave it to me."The proof that God really gave it to you is when the bank doesn't ask for it back.
I just snorted Pepsi through my nose...
26
posted on
10/23/2002 1:03:56 PM PDT
by
Poohbah
To: 11th Earl of Mar
I hate when that happens...
27
posted on
10/23/2002 1:04:17 PM PDT
by
jude24
To: 11th Earl of Mar
Lagergren said the bank had sent Marklund a bouquet of flowers along with apologies. Considering the work she saved them locating the error...that was mighty big of them.
To: hopespringseternal
The proof that God really gave it to you is when the bank doesn't ask for it back. Has anyone else run across these phony $100 bills that say "This bill is counterfeit but Jesus is the real thing"? I've seen them twice now in the last week (and been a little disappointed on closer inspection!). The funny thing is, the bill has a picture of Al Gore (with beard) on it--I am NOT making this up!
29
posted on
10/23/2002 1:16:09 PM PDT
by
Tancred
To: 11th Earl of Mar
a woman with money of her own?
I have the urge to merge
.
30
posted on
10/23/2002 1:18:30 PM PDT
by
Elle Bee
To: 11th Earl of Mar
Commie country. Redistribution of wealth. I knew of an unmarried couple in canada with 3 kids receiving a monthly child allowance check. They owned their own home (jointly) and both had jobs. This is not freedom, because they are "legally" robbing others.
To: 11th Earl of Mar
Sweden has a defense budget? Since when does a socialist paradise need defense?
To: robertpaulsen
Hey what a coinkidint ... Are you anxiously awaiting a reply from Mr.Mahon of Nigeria as well ??
(excuse me while I do a little clean-up on my 'puter screen)
33
posted on
10/23/2002 1:29:51 PM PDT
by
CIBvet
To: 11th Earl of Mar
"I thought this money doesn't belong to me. Something must be wrong."
Funny, she doesn't say that about her monthly "child allowance". What is that all about? That money must be coming from somewhere. I guess they pay her to have kids and no husband.
About 15 years ago, I received a notice from my bank saying that I had an overdraft because I had written a check for something like 1.9 million and I had a balance of only 1.7 million in my account. The actual balance was more in the neighborhood of $250. I never did figure that one out. By the time I received the notice and called, they had figured it out -- or so they claimed!
34
posted on
10/23/2002 1:34:52 PM PDT
by
Bigg Red
To: Fresh Wind
Sweden has a defense budget? Since when does a socialist paradise need defense?They've all got those G.I. knives which are pretty spendy I hear, LOL.
EBUCK
35
posted on
10/23/2002 1:39:38 PM PDT
by
EBUCK
To: mlmr
My first reaction was that Bill Clinton had to dump what he had stolen from the US Treasury and he'd just get later.
To: 11th Earl of Mar
Ummm..does anyone else find it weird that this money didn't actually exist? Where did 93 billion kronors come from? Was it actually money that got pulled from other accounts? Where they actually in circulation, or were they so many numbers that just magically poofed into being when some datamonkey punched the zero button a little too hard?
Kinda scary, that maybe you can just "make" money like that now..
37
posted on
10/23/2002 1:47:46 PM PDT
by
WyldKard
To: 11th Earl of Mar
When Gun-Britt Marklund checked her bank account to see whether her monthly child allowance check had arrived from the Swedish government...What, was she married to Sweden or did she just sleep around a lot?
To: Bigg Red
I guess they pay her to have kids and no husband. Don't mean to be a stickler, but the article doesn't mention her marital status. The Swedes have a very different system from the US. Here's a link to a page from Sweden outlining the child allowance and some other support for families provided by their government.
http://social.regeringen.se/pressinfo/pdf/familj/familjepolitik_en.pdf
I wonder if it has had any positive impact on their birth rate.
To: Straight Vermonter
You got me hooked!
I'm about to walk out the door, and I didn't have the inclination to pay for the ending - did you?
Are you Patrick Combs?
This is a cruel joke LOL -
I've got to know....
40
posted on
10/23/2002 1:57:38 PM PDT
by
M. Peach
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