Council pays over £20,000 to wrong man - they can't find him to ask for it back - Polidicks

[B]Human error is being blamed for a mix-up over payments to Kent County Council (KCC) leader Paul Carter which cost the authority more than £20,000.[/B] Allowances of £21,398 intended for Mr Carter for a period of seven months [B]were paid by mistake to a maintenance fitter with the same name[/B]. KCC[B] managed to recover only £769 [/B]from the other Paul Carter, who worked at Aylesford Commercial Services Depot. The council said the employee[B] left the UK and it had been unable to trace him.[/B] The payments were made in error to the maintenance man, then aged 54, from September 2007 to March 2008. KCC said the mistake arose when a member of staff [B]inadvertently entered a change of bank details from leader Paul Carter on to Commercial Services Paul Carter's record[/B]. It was discovered in April 2008 when the council leader's secretary in his private office noticed that his overdraft was near its limit. "My secretary and my own office suggested to me that I needed to rein back on expenditure," said the council leader. "Clearly, things weren't quite right and I asked her to check that my allowance for being leader of Kent County Council had hit my personal bank account and it hadn't. "It was a payroll error within KCC. Clearly there was an employee of the authority by the name of Paul Carter and[B] my allowance was mistakenly paid into the other Paul Carter's account."[/B] KCC said that as soon as the error was identified, it deducted £769 from maintenance man Paul Carter's net monthly salary of £1,600, but[B] was unable to recover the rest of the money because he resigned and left the country[/B]. [B]He is now believed to be in Eastern Europe.[/B] "KCC always undertake to fully recover any overpayment made via the payroll regardless of whether the individual remains employed or not," it said. "In this case we followed our normal procedure and informed Debt Recovery to continue with the full recovery of the debt. [B] "Unfortunately Mr Carter left the country and we have been unable to trace him.[/B] [URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-18074577[/URL]

Well it must feel good to be that guy, he's either really lucky or smart to have left before it was noticed

[QUOTE=minge-killer;35969355]Well it must feel good to be that guy, he's either really lucky or smart to have left before it was noticed[/QUOTE] I disagree, he has to be hiding for the rest of his life with an amazing £20,000. That's not even a year salary for me. There's no way I could survive with that little.

[QUOTE=Scottismelol;35969393]I disagree, he has to be hiding for the rest of his life with an amazing £20,000. That's not even a year salary for me. There's no way I could survive with that little.[/QUOTE] Well, depending on where you go in Eastern Europe, you could live for a while off that much money. You're right though. That's a pretty small sum to leave the country for.

You dumbass. By going into hiding you now are unable to function, and 20K isn't going to last you long son!

[QUOTE=Zambies!;35969443]You dumbass. By going into hiding you now are unable to function, and 20K isn't going to last you long son![/QUOTE]I don't think he can hear you.

Well this is something on the other side of the spectrum after reading that the wrong man was executed in Texas.

[QUOTE=Zambies!;35969443]You dumbass. By going into hiding you now are unable to function, and 20K isn't going to last you long son![/QUOTE] How is he unable to function? He's hiding in eastern Europe; he has nothing to fear by getting another job. He's not some political activist in fear of an assassination attempt.

[QUOTE=SilentOpp;35969434]Well, depending on where you go in Eastern Europe, you could live for a while off that much money. You're right though. That's a pretty small sum to leave the country for.[/QUOTE] I've never been to Europe, so I don't even know how much a burger at McDonalds is there. And even with leaving the country, it would be hard (at least in Canada) to get a job with company's always checking your background information... I guess he can get fake id's but those only go so far, and usually the jobs you get with fake id's are not even that well paid.

Aren't government bureaucracies efficient and careful in all that they do?

[QUOTE=SilentOpp;35969434]Well, depending on where you go in Eastern Europe, you could live for a while off that much money. You're right though. That's a pretty small sum to leave the country for.[/QUOTE] Yeah, that's not how it works. 20000 pounds will last you a year, not a decade.

[QUOTE=Edthefirst;35969575]How is he unable to function? He's hiding in eastern Europe; he has nothing to fear by getting another job. He's not some political activist in fear of an assassination attempt.[/QUOTE] What Scottismelol said.

[QUOTE=Scottismelol;35969589]I've never been to Europe, so I don't even know how much a burger at McDonalds is there. And even with leaving the country, it would be hard (at least in Canada) to get a job with company's always checking your background information... I guess he can get fake id's but those only go so far, and usually the jobs you get with fake id's are not even that well paid.[/QUOTE] Because an Eastern European company is totally going to do an in depth profiling of a lowly maintenance man. It happens in The US and Canada because they have huge systems in place, but other places don't give a shit.

[QUOTE=Scottismelol;35969589]I've never been to Europe, so I don't even know how much a burger at McDonalds is there. And even with leaving the country, it would be hard (at least in Canada) to get a job with company's always checking your background information... I guess he can get fake id's but those only go so far, and usually the jobs you get with fake id's are not even that well paid.[/QUOTE] I presume because he is in Eastern Europe he is covered by the Freedom of Movement right so he can live and work anywhere in Europe. He also isn't a criminal and isn't wanted by the police so I don't see why he'd have a problem

Eastern europe? He could survive for quite a long time with 20k pounds there. Well depends on how far east. If soviet bloc, then he's set for a long time.

I laughed harder at this then I should have Your own incompetence you bunch of ninnies, hope the guy has a good time with that dosh