Heartwarming twist in case of great grandfather who lost $71,000 in one click after mistakenly transferring the cash to a stranger
- Gordon Layton mistakenly sent large sum of money to wrong person on June 15
- He called the banks within hours but the money had already been received
- The man who falsely received the cash has been charged with stealing
- Community has rallied to raise funds and now the bank has also reimbursing him
An elderly man at risk of losing his home after transferring $71,400 to the wrong person is breathing a sigh of relief after the community raised money and the bank agreed to reimburse most of the cash.
Gordon Layton, an 88-year-old great-grandfather from Bundaberg, Queensland, sent the money from his ING bank account to an ANZ account on June 14.
He saved the ANZ account under the wrong name and sent the money to a different person who allegedly refused to hand it back.
That man has since been charged with theft by police.
Gordon Layton, an 88-year-old great grandfather from Bundaberg, eastern Queensland mistakenly transferred $71,400 to the wrong account
The money was for a house moved onto Mr Layton’s block of land which the pensioner intends to renovate and move into.
He and his daughter Jacqui Morrison-White realised the cash transfer error within three hours but it was apparently too late.
Both banks initially told Mr Layton there was nothing they could do – ANZ had asked for the money back but the recipient allegedly said no – and the cash was then withdrawn over the following days.
‘Obviously I wasn’t pleased in fact I was really p***ed off that this guy had taken the opportunity to say ”well I’m not giving it back, bugger you”,’ the pensioner told A Current Affair.
To make matters worse the company which moved Mr Layton’s house threatened to take legal action to get the money – something he said they have every right to.
With no cash to pay for or fix up his house, which has no running water, Mr Layton either stays with family or sleeps in the shed.
‘This is an 88-year-old pensioner’s money that means if we don’t get it back my father has to sell his house to be able to pay the debt. How is that fair?’ Ms Morrison-White said.
Mr Layton had meant to transfer the money to the company which moved a house (pictured) onto his block of land
The family scraped together what they could and also started an online petition which generated enough support that they were able to raise the funds.
‘That’s one less thing for dad to worry about,’ Ms Morrison-White said.
But she was also determined to follow-up with the banks and continued to chase them – which eventually paid off.
Ms Morrison-White said ANZ has contacted them and said they felt a few of their internal processes could have been handled better in this case and they agreed to reimburse him part of the money.
‘Not all of it but a huge amount of that $71,400 is coming back, and we can’t thank them enough. I was pleased and surprised because it’s not often that banks are so generous,’ Mr Layton said.
He also added he wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has rallied to ‘physically, morally or financially’ help him over the last few weeks.
Ron Stakenburg (pictured left) has been charged with stealing property of value exceeding more then $5,000
The recipient of the cash was the man Mr Layton hired to certify his new house – Ron Stakenburg.
He been charged with stealing property of value exceeding $5,000 and appeared briefly at Bundaberg Magistrates Court.
His case was adjourned and he is set to appear again on October 18.
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