Police: Pa. man spent much of $69,000 bank error

[longnecker]

BENSALEM, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia man is facing theft charges after police say he spent much of the $70,000 mistakenly deposited into his bank account.
Bensalem police say 22-year-old Joseph Bucci spent all but about $2,000 of the $69,300 in misbegotten money after it showed up in his account in March.
Bucci surrendered to police on Tuesday and arraigned on charges of theft of property lost by mistake and receiving stolen property.
Investigators say Bucci used the money on airline tickets, a used car, insurance, a dog and other items. Police say he withdrew $30,000 in cash in the 10 days after the mistaken March 6 deposit.
Bucci is free on bail. Court records don't list an attorney for him and a phone listing for him could not immediately be located Wednesday.
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[EpicWin]

[Kid Lester]

He should use the Granpa Simpson defense. In one episode, he started getting royalty checks for an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon he had contributed to decades before. Bart thought it was awesome that Granpa was associated with the show and so he asked him about it. Granpa doesn't remember anything about it and says, "What are you talking about?" Bart says, "Well didn't you even wonder why you started getting all these checks out of nowhere?" Granpa says, "I thought it was just because the Democrats were back in power."

[Tracy]

He's 22 years old. When I was 22, I probably would have done EXACTLY what he did. Now that I'm a little older and a little wiser AND work for a bank and know that these things are always caught, I would have been VERY tempted...but I would have called the bank and got the situation fixed. Hopefully the bank would have done the right thing and thrown me a bone for doing the right thing.

[Bellicose]

Just leave it there and not touch it, they will take it back. They always do

[childOfLacroix]

He did it wrong. He should have withdrawn every dime, then absconded to Mexico. He could have lived like a king for the rest of his life.

[Joe Walther]

He did it wrong. He should have withdrawn every dime, then absconded to Mexico. He could have lived like a king for the rest of his life.

Which in Mexico right now, especially for Americans with more than $5 in cash on them, could be all of 24-hours. And, for the record, this dude fully admitted that he knew what he was doing was ILLEGAL and that he WOULD be caught. "I just didn't think it would be this bad (referring to the charges)," he told interviewers.

Also, if, by the time they're 21-years old, grownups don't know that this sort of activity is stealing, they have a far more serious problem on their hands. The idiots of this world vary in many physical ways, but mentally they all seem to project a common trait: the ease with which intransigent reality stymies them.

[Chase]

what about if you go to a ATM and ask for 40 and you get 60

a. is it illegal to take it

and

b. how hard is it to get caught

[Kid Lester]

what about if you go to a ATM and ask for 40 and you get 60

a. is it illegal to take it

and

b. how hard is it to get caught

There's plausible deniability in that. Plus it's easy to repay if you get caught. "What? Hell, I just figured I accidentally hit $60 instead of $40."

If the machine is broken and giving out free money to lots of people, I'm pretty sure they're going to track everybody down. But for one small error, I doubt they'd find you.

[Joe Walther]

what about if you go to a ATM and ask for 40 and you get 60

a. is it illegal to take it

and

b. how hard is it to get caught

Yes, it’s illegal; but so is jaywalking. However, the police do not issue all points bulletins to apprehend jaywalkers. As for ATM transactions, how efficiently a bank deals with a transgression depends on which party has been TRANSGRESSED.

Understand that ATMs are nothing more than electronic tellers. However, there is one big difference. Human tellers work for the bank and the bank is responsible for their actions. As well, those tellers are bonded. So, if one comes up short, the bonding company coughs up the loss and then goes after the (now unemployed and soon to be arrested) teller with a vengeance.

ATMs are the property of the company that installs them. That company is bonded just like human tellers are bonded. If an ATM shortchanges you, your recourse is to call the ATM Company, not the bank—the number is located on every ATM. You will, however, eventually get your money.

The ATM Company will audit the keystrokes involved in the transaction, the video captures at the ATM in question, the amount requested, and an inventory of the money in the ATM (Beginning balance PLUS any additions MINUS an ending balance).

As I said, you’ll get your money, but depending on the amount involved, it may take a while. It’s an extremely infrequent occurrence. For $20, they may simply issue a payment immediately. However, they’re not simply dropping the matter. So, if you’re trying out your “pull a fast one” routine, you can still get caught.

If, on the other hand, an ATM overpays YOUR request, it’s a different matter. The bank will be the first to realize the error via their account audits. They’ll notify the ATM Company. The ATM Company will reimburse the bank due to their bonding requirements; and the matter (now considered a theft) will be subrogated to the ATM Company’s bonding agent, which will begin the investigative process with a vengeance.

Only the process will go much faster. How much faster will depend on the amount involved. The rule is that you’ll generally get caught. If someone is dumb enough to risk their reputation over $20, my idiot rule applies in spades.

A common axiom pursuant to stealing is that we all have our price. For some it’s very small; for most, however, it’s quite high. My price, for example, is a minimum of 11-figures to the left of the decimal point and a virtual guarantee that I’ll never be caught.

My price has to be high because I’ll develop tons of stress likely leading to a fatal coronary. And, making matters a lot worse, my wife will lavish most of it on the pool boy all the while turning him into a MAN—if you get my drift.

That Goddamn bitch… see what you.ve done... I’m already pissed off and haven't gotten to spend a single dime of it!!

[Roogle]

70 grand could pay for a house in the hood. Rent it out while you are doing your stint. Even though you would have a felony. You would have a decent piece of change and a piece of land by the time you get out.

[Joe Walther]

70 grand could pay for a house in the hood. Rent it out while you are doing your stint. Even though you would have a felony. You would have a decent piece of change and a piece of land by the time you get out.

I know you know better, Roogle. But, there is a ton of folks who don’t. So, for those who may read this—especially if you’re current members of the Dumb and Dumber Club—it won’t work.

When felony charges involve matters of theft and unjust enrichment—though there are other instances as well—the first thing prosecutors do is move to freeze, and ultimately on conviction, seize a defendant’s assets (including what was stolen).

They would be used to pay restitution (at an annualized minimum rate of 9% interest), attorney fees, and other court costs (including a victim compensation fund).

In this case, the defendant spent a significant portion of the misappropriated funds; so, whatever is left would then be used for restitution and any other assets available would be seized to apply to the difference, again at an annualized rate of interest.

Once all assets are depleted and the defendant cannot afford an attorney, the court will assign one. However, contrary to the popular notion of free legal services… they’re NOT.

Along with the sentence, on conviction, the sentencing judge will include fines and other costs, including (in most states) a monthly Public Defender’s assessment to be paid upon release from prison. And the obligation accrues continuously, whether you have a job or not.

A defendant who can’t find work after release and misses the payments will result in the court issuing a capias for violation of probation. And, unless defendants petition the court for a stay until they find employment, they’ll end up back in jail every time.

So, no matter how long it takes at whatever monthly rate judges set, all fines and legal fees will be paid… eventually. I know people who have been paying such fees for years, some as low as $25 a month.

The bottom line of it all is this. BEFORE doing the crime, make sure that you understand that you will be charged with all the things you’ve done, including the stuff you never thought about and didn’t even know you did. And, the sentencing consequences will include everything involved, including jail-time, fines, attorney fees, and miscellaneous court charges… whether you knew about them or not.

This kid may plead guilty… may even get a plea bargain depending on circumstances. But, either way, a judge is going to adjudicate him as guilty and sentence him accordingly.

And, the only thing he will gain from the experience is at least one felony conviction along with all the neat benefits that go along with one of those. And, I haven’t even included all the social stigmas that will follow him for the rest of his life.