Woman Arrested After Refusing to Return $1.2 Million Bank Error
Kelyn Spadoni, a former 911 dispatcher for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, has been arrested for refusing to return $1.2 million mistakenly deposited into her brokerage account. After noticing the money, authorities say she transferred it from her brokerage account to her bank account, then bought a new house and car.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jason Rivarde told NOLA.com that even though the money was put in her account by mistake, it was an accounting error and she has no legit claim to the funds. Spadoni was arrested and charged with theft valued over $25,000, bank fraud, and illegal transmission of monetary funds.
She is being sued in federal court by the brokerage firm, Charles Schwab & Co. They're accusing her of not answering their calls, emails, and text messages and refusing to return the money.
On February 23, the brokerage firm was supposed to deposit $82.56 into Spadoni's account. However, they transferred $1,205,619 in error. Staffers at the company realized their mistake immediately and tried to reclaim the money sent but were unable to. They put in a formal request to Spadoni's bank to return the funds but were denied because the money was no longer in the account.
WVUE is reporting Schwab and detectives were able to collect around 75% of the money back. Spadoni is currently being held on a $50,000 bond at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center.