Employee mistakenly receives 300 times his salary, gets to keep it after court approves

A Chilean man has won a legal battle allowing him to keep a huge sum of money he received by mistake, 300 times more than his usual monthly salary.

In May 2022, while working as an assistant at Dan Consorcio Industrial de Alimentos de Chile, the man was accidentally transferred 127,000 pounds instead of his usual monthly wage of around 386 pounds. Initially, he promised to return the amount but resigned just three days later, setting off a lengthy legal battle that lasted three years.

Legal Outcome: "Unauthorised collection" not theft

Representatives from the company claimed the man had promised to return the overpayment but instead left his position, sparking the legal dispute. The company accused him of theft, but a Santiago court ruled that the incident was an “unauthorized collection” rather than a criminal act. The distinction meant that the case could not be prosecuted as theft, leading to the court's favourable ruling for the man.

Despite the court's decision, the company is not backing down. It has announced plans to challenge the ruling and pursue every possible legal route to reclaim the funds. The company’s statement, made to Diario Financiero, stressed that it would take "all possible legal steps" to have the judgment reviewed.

This case comes in the wake of similar workplace controversies, such as a police officer in the UK being accused of faking productivity while working remotely.