When a Louisiana dispatcher discovered an unexpected $1.2 million in her bank account, she didn’t waste much time asking questions. In fact, she didn’t ask questions at all.
Kelyn Spadoni, 33, was supposed to receive a deposit of $82 from Charles Schwab & Co.banking. But a gigantic error reflected a much greater sum.
According to authorities, Spadoni transferred her new fortune into a secret account. Not long after, she reportedly purchased a home and a 2021 Hyundai Genesis sports car. Court documents locate Spadoni’s splurges somewhere between $48,000 and $70,000.
Eventually, Charles Schwab figured out what happened to the money. But when Spadoni kept dodging them and ignoring their calls and messages, they got the police involved.
Spadoni was arrested last week for theft, bank fraud, and illegal transmission of monetary funds.
A spokesman from the sheriff’s department where she worked says, quote, “She had no legal claim to that money. Even if it was put in there by mistake, it was an accounting error.”
“It’s not her money,” sheriff’s office spokesman Capt. Jason Rivarde commented in a media release. “She has no legal claim to that money,” he said. “Even if it was put in there by mistake. It was an accounting error… If someone accidentally puts an extra zero on a utility payment, they would want that money returned or credited to them. This is no different.”
Detectives were ultimately able to retrieve about 75 percent of what was accidentally given to Spadoni.
Spadoni has been charged with theft valued over $25,000, bank fraud, and illegal transmission of monetary funds, and was fired from her job as a 911 dispatcher for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, where she had been working for over four years. Schwab has filed a federal lawsuit against Spadoni for dodging its attempts to recover the money.
In the lawsuit, Schwab cites an agreement in the contract with Spadoni which states that if a client receives an overpayment of funds, that person is required to return the full amount. Spadoni is being held at a nearby correctional facility in lieu of a $50,000 bond.
Source: AWM