B.C. resident ordered to repay $5,000 e-transfer they were sent by accident
A B.C. resident will get back the $5,000 they accidentally e-transferred to someone else instead of moving the money to one of their own accounts.
A Civil Resolution Tribunal posted a decision Wednesday about the dispute between someone who said they sent the $5,000 in error and the recipient, who claimed they never got the money.
Tribunal member David Jiang said the decision was made based on the balance of probabilities, meaning one scenario was more likely than not.
The tribunal heard the sender meant to transfer the money to herself through online banking last September, but instead of selecting her own account, she selected someone else as the recipient. Jiang said a bank statement from that time shows a transfer of $5,000 that matches the accidental recipient's name.
Documents from the bank, BlueShore, corroborated both the recipient and the sender, Jiang said, and also showed the money was deposited by the recipient about 30 minutes after it was sent.
The recipient argued they no longer use the email address the money was mistakenly sent to.
"I find this submission unpersuasive as they did not say they lost access to the previous email address or that someone else had taken control over it," Jiang wrote. "They provided no evidence that someone else accepted the money using the old email address."
Jiang wrote the evidence presented to him showed $5,000 was sent "through email … and the respondent deposited it."
"BlueShore gave no indication that the money never arrived or was sent to someone else," his decision said. "Given the above, I find it proven that the respondent received $5,000 from the (sender) through a mistaken transaction."
Jiang said previous CRT decisions "generally apply the law of unjust enrichment" when considering mistaken e-transfers. He said he finds the recipient was "enriched by the claimed amount of $5,000," and ordered them to pay that money back.
The recipient was also ordered to pay the sender about $200 in CRT fees.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.