Quote :

"TRENTON, N.J. — A $469,000 payroll error at a New Jersey company has earned an Illinois man a date with police. Anthony Armatys of Palatine, Illinois, was arrested Wednesday on theft charges after allegedly receiving electronic payroll bank deposits from a New Jersey company he never worked for, authorities said. Officials at Avaya Inc., a telecommunications provider located in Basking Ridge, discovered checks had been mistakenly direct deposited into his account for nearly five years, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office. Armatys, 34, had accepted a position with Avaya years ago, authorities said, but he rescinded the acceptance before he ever started working. However, a system error resulted in checks being deposited into Armatys' bank account from the fall of 2002 to March of 2007, when the company discovered the error, officials said. During that time, Armatys collected more than $469,000 in pay and even withdrew approximately $1,900 from his company retirement account administered by Fidelity Investments, authorities said. Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest said it took investigators 11 months to do a thorough investigation, which resulted in the time gap between the discovery of the error and Armatys' arrest. "The investigation had to be done, records had to be obtained, the list goes on," he said. Armatys, who was awaiting extradition to New Jersey on Wednesday, was charged with one count of theft by deception; his bail was set at $50,000. Commander Kurt Schroeder of the Palatine Police Department in Illinois said Armatys was taken to Cook County Jail in Chicago and would likely have an extradition hearing on Thursday. He did not know if Armatys had retained a lawyer yet. Attempts to reach Armatys, whose home phone number is unlisted, were unsuccessful. Avaya spokeswoman Deb Kline said the company had no comment on the matter. Avaya has 18,000 employees globally and 1,800 in New Jersey, she said."

1/17/2008 12:34:17 AM

dude seriously... youre an admitted drunk but you seem to read a whole lot

i dont drink at all and i fucking hate words

how do you do it??

1/17/2008 12:35:48 AM

That's a tough one. I think if a citizen made that kind of mistake the police would say it's their problem and tell them to file a civil suit if they want their money back. I don't see how this guy "stole" anything. Getting hit with a charge seems wrong IMO.

[Edited on January 17, 2008 at 12:37 AM. Reason : l]

1/17/2008 12:36:33 AM

Quote :

"but he rescinded the acceptance before he ever started working. However, a system error resulted in checks being deposited into Armatys' bank account from the fall of 2002 to March of 2007"

this line alone seems (at least to me) to exempt him from all charges

he rescinded the offer
they fucked up
it's their fault
he didn't HAVE to tell them - it's not like he was stealing the money.

1/17/2008 12:40:40 AM

I own a little stock in that company.

1/17/2008 12:41:36 AM

presumably the setting up/use of the retire fund was knowingly fraud.

I agree on the base matter of the payroll deposits though.

1/17/2008 12:42:05 AM

Doesn't he get bank statements telling him where credits/debits are sourced?

1/17/2008 12:46:58 AM

yeah, if i were him

i'd just leave everything alone... i mean, you're getting free money... don't fuck it up.

him doing the retirement account is what fucked him over

1/17/2008 12:47:43 AM

It's dishonest at best, and flat out theft by omission at worst. Clearly you should alert a company or person if you're receiving remuneration for work you aren't doing. It's not entirely his fault, I mean the company clearly has a responsibility to take care of itself and control its own expenditures. I'd say if it had only been a few checks the blame would lie with them, but $469,000 is probably between 5 and 10 years of this guy not saying a word and knowing what he was doing was wrong.

1/17/2008 12:54:06 AM

I just wouldn't touch it and when I got caught I'd be like "I don't have time to pay attention to where all my moneys comes from." Drawing interest the whole time ftw!

1/17/2008 12:58:01 AM

he's fucked because he took money from the retirement. otherwise, he'd have a case

1/17/2008 3:39:58 AM

it's not your fault so please stop your crying now
whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

1/17/2008 3:40:33 AM

I'm feeling you, Tiger. I am FEELING YOU!!
Holla at a playa when you see him in the street.
And The Lord said 'Ya got to rise UP!'
As cool as the other side of the pillow...
Boo-yah!

1/17/2008 3:45:33 AM

Quote :

"he's fucked because he took money from the retirement. otherwise, he'd have a case"

I have to admit that is when I paused and was like damn, so getting a salary was not enough.

1/17/2008 3:02:12 PM

yeah but the retirement was only for $1900

he got popped because he was greedy

1/17/2008 3:05:17 PM

he shoulda took that shit and got the hell out of the States

1/17/2008 3:07:13 PM

actually it is fraud. he knowingly accepted money over an extended period of time from a company he did not work for. if you know the money is not yours, you are responsible for saying so. it would be the same as if the government sent you a tax refund for 7 million dollars instead of 7 thousand, and you cashed it and took the money anyway.

1/17/2008 3:20:09 PM

I just feel like if I sent someone money for like a year for nothing and then wanted it all back the courts would be like, "tough shit bet you wont do that again".

1/17/2008 3:21:41 PM

but i don't see why any of those situations should be HIS FAULT

the COMPANY fucked up

not him

1/17/2008 3:22:52 PM

The shits a Monopoly card

1/17/2008 3:24:03 PM

His pay come out to like $7,800 a month.

1/17/2008 3:28:44 PM

this is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous. It is the companies fault for not auditing their pay roll records and letting this mistake happen. They should foot the loss as the guy did nothing illegal although immoral. I guess their must be a hidden constitutional amendment requiring all americans to act with moral standards. If someone handed me money every week I would not question it or give it back b.c I did not think I earned it. Then a year later if they came back and tried to say they mistook me for their landlord I would be sorry you are SOL.

Maybe they could get the money back in civil but by no means is this a criminal offense. Unless the guy some how hacked the system or somehow scammed the company out of the money.

Quote :

"would be the same as if the government sent you a tax refund for 7 million dollars instead of 7 thousand, and you cashed it and took the money anyway"

hey its my lucky day. Not my fault if someone else is an idiot. I did nothing illegal and merely cashed a check given to me.

[Edited on January 17, 2008 at 4:47 PM. Reason : a]

1/17/2008 4:45:41 PM

its clearly the company's fault.

1/17/2008 4:57:07 PM

so i could wire someone money, and if they keep it, they get arrested and i get the money back? sweet

1/17/2008 4:58:17 PM

good lawyer = he gets off with no charges

1/17/2008 5:01:51 PM

Quote :

"so i could wire someone money, and if they keep it, they get arrested and i get the money back? sweet "

EXACTLY

1/17/2008 5:19:57 PM