We all wish to wake up one day and see a ton of money in our bank account. But wishes do not normally come true and most people do not wake up to instant wealth, or do they? A man from New Zealand recently had $106,000 mysteriously added to his bank account and instead of alerting the bank, he decided to spend the money. This decision would come back to haunt him in the not so distant future.
The lucky New Zealand man is Mehdi Soheili saw a ton of cash placed in his account, $141,000 to be exact and decided to use the money to fund his gambling habit. Once the money was recognized by the player, he decided to begin wagering. It was eight days after the cash was placed his account that the bank caught on. However it was too late. The bank froze his account but he had already used the money in question.
Even though the money in his account was the mistake of the bank, Soheili decided to plead guilty to stealing and must now repay the money he used to wager on his favorite gambling games. The incident took place in November of last year and the player is just now facing charges.
It was proven the Soheili has a gambling problem after a test was completed and he was found to have score 16 out of a possible 27 according to the problem gambling scale. Anything over an 8 is considered to be an issue so double that is certainly a problem. The judge in the case, Judge Tony Fitzgerald, stated that the temptation was too much for the gambler after he discovered the money, especially based on his gambling addiction.
Soheili has now earned community detention and must continue to work to repay the debt. He has only cleared just over $2,000 of the money owed.
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