She surprisingly found 50,000 euros credited to her current account, and decided to keep the huge and unexpected sum for herself. A sensational mistake by the bank, which the lucky one used to buy two houses and a car, all without running into legal problems. In a series of videos that went viral on TkTok she explained how she did it.
Aprille Franks, an American influencer from Las Vegas, also known as a business and lifestyle coach, shared her experience with the many curious. The incident occurred about 20 years ago, when the woman received an email informing her that her account had been credited with $50,000 (about 46,000 euros). A real surprise, since she wasn’t expecting any payment.
That’s why Aprille reached out to friends and family to find out if anyone had made a wire transfer by mistake. Then she contacted the bank to report the error, but the branch replied that the transaction was legitimate. Aprille then decided to keep the money to herself, since no one had claimed it, after hearing her lawyer’s opinion.
The lawyer advised her to report the credit again, this time in writing and keeping the documentation, and not to touch the money for at least 30 days. The woman also released a public statement to a newspaper, in order to be sure that – in case of a mistake – the rightful owner of the 50 thousand dollars could claim the amount. But no one ever came forward, and the large sum remained with her.
Only six months later the bank “woke up” and contacted her through a lawyer asking for reimbursement of the credit that had occurred by mistake, but it was already too late: Aprille defended herself by claiming that it was the bank that had not complied her own policy by not launching an investigation within ten days, while she had reported everything according to procedure. “I was lucky, but I didn’t break the law,” she said.
A figure that in 2000 was quite substantial, and with which Aprille, who is now 47 years old, bought two houses, one of which was then resold as a form of investment, and a car.
