NEW CHICAGO — An Indiana firefighter was a millionaire for a brief time after his bank balance skyrocketed after receiving his stimulus money.
Charles Calvin said he was supposed to receive $1,700 from the government for his stimulus payment.
"I went to the ATM at the Family Express and once I withdraw $200 out of my account I looked at the available balance that was still left in my account," Calvin said. "Apparently, my account had $8.2 million in it. I'm like what in the world is going on here?"
Not believing what he saw, he went back to the ATM and looked again.
"I ran the card again, and again $8.2 million. I said man, something is up with this," Calvin said.
Calvin called his bank Monday morning to check on the error. They said they didn't see the amount he was claiming was in his checking account anymore — but his $1,700 stimulus payment was deposited.
Calvin said he knew the money wasn't his, but he's worried that the deposit was some sort of fluke, and how many others it impacted.
"Of course it makes you pause and think what is going on If there is some kind of clerical error or what have you, they should be on top of it," Calvin said. "It kind of sucks you go from being a millionaire on paper one second then back to being broke again, but I guess once you're poor you ain't got nowhere else to go but up."
The treasury department says it plans to direct deposit stimulus money into accounts of up to 80 million Americans by Wednesday. Most people who are eligible should receive their money within two weeks.
