Man wakes up to find $89 million in trading account. His fortune didn't last long, thanks to his honesty

A venture capitalist and online trader got the shock of his life when he became a millionaire overnight. When Daniel Levene from Manhattan was checking his balance, he realized that a whopping $89 million had been accidentally deposited into his account. He told the New York Post that at first, he asked himself, “Did I just win the lottery?” as he rubbed his eyes. However, the fortune didn't last long, thanks to his honesty.

Here's what happened

One morning, Levene, a former Goldman Sachs bond trader logged into his accounts to take a look. To his surprise, he found that $89,900,912 had been deposited into his account by E-Trade Financial Corporation, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, which provides an electronic trading platform to people for trading financial assets. Levene called up a friend to share the news.

In an interview with CBS New York, he said that he joked about getting a yacht and going to watch the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix. However, Levene knew that the transaction was an error and he wasn't supposed to spend the money. So he got in touch with E-Trade customer service to report the issue.

However, the company took well over an hour to respond to Levene. Ultimately, the company apologized for the error and directed Levene to work with the representatives to sort it out. Working with the representatives, Levene sent out emails with screenshots of his bank balance, he told The Post. Soon, the funds were gone and Levene's balance went back down to what it was before. 

While Levene was honest enough to return the funds, in a similar case from South Africa, a student went on a spending spree after accidentally receiving $1 million. The misallocation of funds happened back in 2017, when two zeroes were accidentally added to the the university student's $100 financial aid payment under the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). The student, Sibongile Mani, at Walter Sisulu University in Eastern Cape province, was supposed to use the $100 aid for books and food. 

However, after getting $1 million, Mani went on a 73-day spending spree instead of reporting the transaction. She got flashy designer outfits, manicures, expensive Peruvian weaves, threw surprise birthday parties for her friends, flew to various parties in different states, bought new iPhones for herself and more.  By the time she was caught, Mani had spent over $60,000, leading a lavish lifestyle. Before that, the student struggled to even afford food and books, Herald Live reported. 

Mani was ultimately reported by a fellow student who found her bank receipt on the floor. The student was shocked to see that Mani had a balance of 13.6 million Rands (~$1,050,000 at the time) in her account. She reported it to NFAS, which launched an investigaton.  Mani was arrested by the police and charged with theft. fraud. She was sentenced to jail for five years in 2022, and to this day, she continues to appeal against the verdict.