Weird News – It Happens

I’d hate to be in this guys shoes and have to pay that all back.  I had something like this happen when I was working for a major tech firm.  I got an inter-office mail, opened it.  There was a check in there that said bonus and it had my name on it.  The bonus was just under $30,000.   I was thinking WHAT THE HECK.  Then I looked in the company directory and there was another with my same name.  I really wanted his job.

SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) — An Illinois man has admitted banking more than $470,000 in paychecks from a New Jersey company he never worked for.

Thirty-five-year-old Anthony Armatys (AHR’-muh-tees) of Palatine, Ill., pleaded guilty Monday in New Jersey Superior Court to one count of theft as part of a plea bargain.

Prosecutors say Armatys accepted a job with Basking Ridge, N.J.-based telecommunications company Avaya Inc. in September 2002, then changed his mind. But the company’s computer system never removed his name from the payroll.

Paychecks were deposited into his bank account until February 2007, when Avaya auditors discovered the mistake.

Prosecutors are recommending a six-year prison term and restitution. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8.