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What would you do if you found and extra half-million dollars in your child's bank account? One Saratoga Springs mom knew exactly what to do.
Her son got a big surprise when he checked his savings account and found it had over $500,000 in it.
Jake McCloud is saving money to buy an Xbox 360. The other day, he had an extra $5 and stopped by Utah Community Credit Union to make a deposit.
A day later, McCloud checked his balance and it said he had $550,000. So, he went back to the credit union. "All the guy said was, ‘Oh, did you make a deposit for $550,000?' I was like, ‘I don't think so,'" he said.
The credit union told him to come back another day to try to figure it out.
Even with all that money there, the 14-year-old was never tempted to spend any of it. "It wasn't an issue at all," he said.
But he says it is kind of cool looking at his account and seeing that it's full of cash.
Jacob's mom, Kathy Kinghorn, said, "I really thought it was a joke."
She told the credit union, "Unless he has a rich uncle, I'm pretty sure it's your money."
The Branch Manager, Brad Sweat, said, "We saw that. We appreciate you coming in. We caught that this morning when we reconciled the ATM. We just want to let you know we appreciate your honesty."
Honesty is a virtue Jacob's mom has long taught her son. "When I was talking to Jake, he said, 'You know, Mom, you always taught me if it isn't mine, don't touch it,'" she said.
And he didn't. But we had to ask Jacob what he would have done with all that money.
"My brother has always wanted a new truck. I could get him one of those and my dad would really like a house," he said. And maybe with money left over, an XBox 360 for Jacob.
The credit union branch manager tell us the mistake happened when Jacob tried to deposit his $5 into the ATM over the weekend. Instead of punching in $5 as his deposit amount, he put in $550,000. He wouldn't have been able to withdraw that amount of money until the ATM deposits were reconciled this morning, at which point they discovered the mistake.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
E-mail: lprichard@ksl.com
