If you need a good laugh this week we have just the thing, because this story is too good to be true.
A bank from Wichita, Kansas is taking one of its customers to court, after they say she was given free money by one of their ATMs.
In a lawsuit, the Central National Bank says that Christina Ochoa discovered one of their automated tellers was malfunctioning, and took advantage of the error.
The Lucky ATM
Get this: they say that the machine was giving out $100 bills instead of $5 bills, and that Ochoa made 50 withdrawals from the machine last month after realizing it.
They claim that Ochoa withdrew $1,488, but was given $14,120, and they're asking her to pay back $11,600 of her ill-gotten gains.
Who gets the money?
If you ask me, there's no way you should have to pay back the bank for their machine's mistake, but Central National doesn't see it that way.
"The first time the ATM dispensed more money than what was due ... Christina and [her mother] Christy had a duty to return the surplus funds to the bank," they said in the lawsuit.
"Not only did they fail to (do) so, but they capitalized on the situation by making a series of over 50 structured withdrawals, most within minutes of each other, and transacted at all hours of the night in order to expose Central to more loss."
But wait - this story gets even better.
Ochoa's defense is that she didn't get any extra money, and she's challenging the bank to prove it! Her excuse is pretty interesting...
Whether she's telling the truth or not, once you hear Ochoa's defense you're sure to be impressed.
The Money Cake
The woman says the whole story began when she needed to make a "money cake" for her friend's birthday.
That required a pile a $5 bills, and Ochoa says her frequent trips to the ATM are all because of her project.
"You can't type in the number of fives you want at the ATM, so that's why we did multiple transactions," her mother Christy told The Wichita Eagle.
She also claims they have receipts from the ATM proving they weren't paid extra.
But here's where the story takes another turn that put a smile on my face.
The Down Payment
Along with freezing Ochoa's bank account, Central National is trying to seize a pair of cars Ochoa allegedly bought thanks to her ATM jackpot.
The bank's lawsuit claims she made a down payment on one of the cars "entirely out of one hundred dollar bills." (Emphasis ours.)
For the record, Ochoa says she made the down payment with her student loans, and a settlement from a car wreck.
Whether Ochoa won the ATM lottery or not, we wish her the best of luck with her case. But it sounds like she doesn't need it.
Should she be allowed to keep the money (theoretically)?
[H/T: The Wichita Eagle]
