Salzburg bank mistakenly pays out €108,000 too much

Two Georgian students returned €108,000 they received by mistake from a Salzburg bank, ORF reports. They had requested €12,900 in cash but were handed more than €120,000 at a Salzburger Sparkasse branch in Gnigl, a district of Salzburg.

The men needed the cash to show Austrian authorities they could support themselves financially while applying for residence permits. Giorgi Bolkvadze said he did not notice the mistake at first. A call from his friend alerted him that the amount was closer to €120,000 than €12,000.

Bolkvadze and his fellow student Giorgi Shavadze immediately returned to the branch with the extra cash. The bank said the overpayment was caused by human error and apologised. It thanked the customer for his cooperative response and gave the pair a packet of gummy bears.