$140,000 Accidentally Ends Up in a Chef's Account

Gambling addiction is a type of impulse-control disorder. Compulsive gamblers can’t control the impulse to gamble, even when they know their gambling is hurting themselves or their loved ones. Gambling is all they can think about and all they want to do, no matter the consequences. Compulsive gamblers keep gambling whether they’re up or down, broke or flush, happy or depressed. Even when they know the odds are against them, even when they can’t afford to lose, people with a gambling addiction can’t stay off the bet.” www.helpguide.org;

Judge Tony Fitzgerald gave Soheili credit for his efforts to make amends for his actions and accepting guilt. Soheili was sentenced to six months of community detention, 200 hours of community work, and a year supervision. Anything more severe than community detention would see the chef lose his job and be unable to repay the stolen money.

Soheili has already repaid $2,250, which means he has $103,312 to go. With repayments of $150 a week, it should take him about 13 years to pay it all back.

There are numerous cases where people decide to spend accidentally transferred money like it’s their own. For example, Lau Gao accidentally received $10 million and he was spending it for two and a half years. Once it was discovered, he was jailed for four years and seven months. There is another case of a mother who went on a huge shopping spree after she discovered £52,000 had mistakenly been put into her bank account.

In yet another case, Michaela Hutchings, 23, went on a big shopping spree that saw her go through £9,000 that was accidentally put into her account by her council. Buying things like expensive handbags, designer shoes and more, she quickly ran up quite a tab. She was caught by the police in April of last year and her situation divided public opinion. Some argued that anyone would have done the same in her position. Hutchings admitted it was her fault and expressed remorse for her actions.