The reason why an unrelated bank still has to 'compensate' the man who transferred money by mistake

The case of a Chinese man mistakenly transferring more than 129 million VND

Illustration: Internet

According to Beijing News, in early 2023, the Tongzhou District Court in Beijing, China, tried a special case involving a person mistakenly transferring a large amount of money to another person's account. This case, after being shared, caused a stir in Chinese public opinion for a long time because of its complexity.

Accordingly, in normal cases of mistaken money transfer, the recipient must return the money to the person who transferred it by mistake. In case the recipient does not voluntarily return it, he/she may be forced to do so according to the court's judgment or decision within the framework of the lawsuit to reclaim the property. If he/she intentionally appropriates the mistakenly received property, he/she may be criminally prosecuted for the crime of illegal possession of property. However, the case that the Thong Chau District Court accepted became more complicated and troublesome because the bank account that received the mistakenly transferred money was canceled immediately afterwards.

Specifically, in February 2023, Mr. Li, who was responsible for operating a product purchasing platform for a chemical company in Beijing, used his own account to transfer 37,000 yuan (more than 129 million VND) to pay the partner company. However, during the transaction, Mr. Li mistakenly transferred the money to the account of a strange man named Truong.

As soon as he discovered the mistake, Mr. Ly called the police for help. With the help of the authorities, Mr. Ly contacted the account owner, Mr. Truong, and asked to get the money back. However, what this man did not expect was that the person surnamed Truong refused to return the money to him. This person even canceled the bank account in his name. Not knowing how to get the money back, Mr. Ly had no choice but to sue Mr. Truong in court.

The reason given was agreed upon by all.

In court, the man surnamed Truong asserted that he was not the real owner of the bank account to which Mr. Ly transferred the money. In fact, this account had previously been stolen and appropriated by scammers. After learning that Mr. Ly had transferred money to his account, Mr. Truong also reported the loss of the account to the police and the money in this account was transferred to the bank's special account before Mr. Truong's account was deleted.

On the bank side, the representative said they were not aware of the transactions between Mr. Li and Mr. Zhang. However, this person confirmed that Mr. Zhang had applied to cancel the bank account and the related amount of 37,000 yuan had been transferred to the bank's special account. If the court ordered the money to be returned to Mr. Li, the bank would cooperate in transferring the money.

Finally, after careful consideration of the case, the Tongzhou Court issued a judgment requiring the relevant bank to return the more than 37,000 yuan that had been mistakenly transferred to the original owner, Mr. Li. This judgment of the court received the consensus of the relevant parties. This case was also officially closed.

How to transfer money online safely

Nowadays, online money transfer via banking applications has become very popular with users. Although online transactions are very convenient and fast, there are still some cases of wrong transfers because the information is not carefully checked before sending. To limit this situation, customers need to pay attention to enter the correct account number information, check the information carefully before transferring or scan the QR code to minimize risks.

In case you are the recipient of a mistaken transfer, you should be careful not to use the money for personal expenses and only work with the bank to return the money to the person who transferred it by mistake. In particular, do not return money to strangers without verification and without a third party witness to avoid trouble or unnecessary trouble.

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/ly-do-ngan-hang-khong-lien-quan-van-phai-den-tien-cho-nguoi-dan-ong-chuyen-khoan-nham-129-trieu-dong-172240909083626551.htm