ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

His company accidentally paid him 330 times his salary due to HR error. He did what anyone would do

The man, who bagged over $180,000 due to an HR error, was told to return the money, but he had other plans.
UPDATED SEP 19, 2024
Credit: Getty Images - fizkes (Representative)
Credit: Getty Images - fizkes (Representative)

Getting a little extra on the payday is always great, especially for those who live paycheck to paycheck.  However, in 2022, one man in Chile received a bonus of a lifetime, which was about 330 times his salary. Turns out, it wasn't actually a bonus but a payroll error from HR, as per reports. Sadly, the poor worker was told to return the money, but he had other plans. 

Representative image | Pexels | Photo by Gustavo Fring
Representative image | Pexels | Photo by Gustavo Fring

The unnamed man worked at Consorcio Industrial de Alimentos (Cial), a maker of cold cuts, as per Diario Financiero. The worker normally received a paycheck of roughly 500,000 Chilean pesos (about $555 at the time) which was directly deposited into his account by the company.



 

However, as per the Santiago-based newspaper, one lucky day the man got a check for a whopping 165,398,851 Chilean Pesos (about $183,593 at the time). The surprised worker did the right thing and notified the overpayment to his manager who discovered the HR error. 

The worker was promptly told to initiate a return and he promised to do that the next day. However, the man never reached the bank, prompting the company to launch a manhunt. When they finally got through, the worker made an excuse that he overslept and he would soon do the transfer, IOL reported. 

Days later, the man disappeared from the face of the Earth. After three days of relentless calls and messages, the company finally received an update. Cial got a message from a lawyer representing the worker, offering the resignation on his behalf.

Representative image | Unsplash | Photo by Nick Fewings
Representative image | Unsplash | Photo by Nick Fewings

While the company didn't accept it, the man has been untraceable ever since. The company filed a complaint accusing the worker of misappropriation of funds, in hopes of recovering some of the amount. 

"He was informed and clarified that this money did not correspond to the payment of any service," the Chilean legal documents read, as per Diario Financiero.

Six months later, in December 2022, IOL shared an update that the man was still on the run and police had made no arrests so far. 

Getting surprise money is not that uncommon after all. Back in 2020, a firefighter from Indiana got a similar shock when he found about $8 million sitting in his bank account. Charles Calvin who was expecting a stimulus check of $1,700 from the Internal Revenue Service, could not believe his eyes when he checked his account balance. 



 

He asked his colleague, a fellow firefighter, to check it. “I ran the card again, and again for $8.2 million. I said Man, something is up with this,” he told NBC Chicago in an interview. He even asked the clerk at the gas station where the ATM was to check if something was wrong with the machine. 

However, Calvin wasn't as dubious as the Chilean man and he informed his bank soon after the error. He told WGN-TV that the money was gone soon after reporting the error. “You go from being a millionaire one second then back to being broke again,” he said. In the end, he was happy to get the amount of money that he was promised.

This article originally appeared two months ago.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
The product had its doubters, but, in the end, the entrepreneurs were able to make a lasting impact.
19 hours ago
Things were not looking too good at one point as most of the sharks had backed out... until the end.
1 day ago
A number of episodes with the icon reprising his role as host will be released this year.
1 day ago
She had only believed that her items were worth a thousand bucks and that was not the case.
1 day ago
The host wasn't expecting such unusual answers to be among the top options.
1 day ago
He was able to get the puzzle right just in the nick of time in order to win a significant amount of cash.
1 day ago
The host seemed pretty confident that the answer was in no way going to be correct.
2 days ago
The history attached to the flag is tragic, and it personally affected the guest.
2 days ago
The product was unique and could help millions of new mothers around the globe.
3 days ago
Viewers believe that the game show sometimes doesn't allow participants to win multiple prizes.
3 days ago
Harvey was clearly annoyed by the answer and refused to buy any explanation.
3 days ago
After his impressive 74 winning streak, Ken Jennings has been hosting the show since 2022 with a $4 million paycheck.
3 days ago
Drew Carey was supposed to look scary, but the host ended up being funny and awkward.
3 days ago
Steve Harvey mocked Snoop Dogg over his choice and went on to roast the rapper more.
3 days ago
It seemed like she was going to lose her chance of winning, but that was not the case after all.
3 days ago
The host is clearly not a fan of hyping up answers that he doesn't personally approve of.
4 days ago
The contestant's appearance was eerily similar to the host's look many years ago.
4 days ago
The East Coast Wrestling Association website has inducted 'Big' Bill Page into the Hall of Fame.
4 days ago
Her composure and confidence in front of all those people were unwavering and commendable.
4 days ago
The duke of Verdura had crafted a masterpiece, a pair of Maltese cross bracelets in enamel for Coco Chanel.
4 days ago