A Louisiana woman was arrested for refusing to return $1.2 million, mistakenly deposited into her brokerage account, Nola.com reported.
Kelyn Spadoni opened a Fidelity Brokerage Services account about a month before the firm installed “enhancement” software.
Schwab intended to transfer $82.56 into Spadoni’s Fidelity account, but she received a jackpot of $1,205,619 instead.
Schwab immediately noticed the error and a request was made to retrieve the funds from Fidelity. But Fidelity sent Schwab a “CASH NOT AVAILABLE” notification, indicating that Spadoni had already withdrawn the cash.
When attempts to contact Spadoni failed, Schwab notified her employer at the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Spadoni worked there as a 911 dispatcher for four years.
Authorities discovered that Spadoni spent at least $48,000 on a 2021 Hyundai Genesis SUV. Investigators seized the vehicle and recovered about 75% of the stolen loot.
She was arrested and charged with theft valued over $25,000, bank fraud, and illegal transmission of monetary funds. Additionally, she was fired as a 911 dispatcher and is being held in jail on $50,000 bond.
Schwab has filed a lawsuit against Spadoni seeking the return of the remaining funds.
In the lawsuit, Schwab pointed out that Spadoni violated an agreement in the contract that states if a client receives an overpayment of funds, they are required to return the full amount.
