Man gets paid 330 times his monthly salary, quits, stops responding to boss. What happened next

The man received an equivalent of over 27 years of his salary in a single deposit. (AI generated image)

A Chilean office assistant who was accidentally paid 330 times his monthly salary — and then quit his job and vanished — has won a court battle to keep the money.

The man, who worked at food company Dan Consorcio Industrial de Alimentos, typically earned £386 (about Rs 46,000) a month. But in May 2022, a payroll error saw him receive £127,000 (about Rs 1.5 crore) instead — the equivalent of over 27 years of his salary in a single deposit, The Metro reported.

According to court documents, the company initially contacted the employee to inform him of the error. He reportedly agreed to return the funds. But three days later, he submitted his resignation and stopped responding to calls and messages from his employer.

The company filed a criminal complaint, accusing him of theft. But after a three-year legal battle, a judge in Santiago ruled that the act did not constitute theft under Chilean law. Instead, it was classified as “unauthorised collection,” a legal distinction that makes it non-prosecutable as a criminal offence.

In a statement to Diario Financiero, the company said it would pursue further legal options. “We will take all possible legal steps, particularly an application for annulment, to have the ruling reviewed,” a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, in the UK…

In a separate case that also raised eyebrows, a British police officer was found guilty of gross misconduct after faking productivity while working from home. Detective Constable Niall Thubron, 33, allegedly jammed a key on his keyboard 28 times over 12 days to show that he was typing.

The officer wanted to "give the impression" that he was "completing tasks" while "working from home", The Metro reported.

He resigned before he could be formally dismissed for gross misconduct.