Finders Aren't Keepers In Mistaken FundsTransfer

PIERRE, S.D. - (12/20/05) -- When more than $10,000 mistakenlyappeared in the account of 17-year-old member of Sioux Falls FCUthe teenager took his new-found fortune and bought a new car. Butthen, another member of the credit union with the same namereported the funds had disappeared from his account and reportedthe discovery to the police. By then the money had been spent. Theteen, identified only by his initials, B.J.T., told police hethought the money was transferred to his account by his mother whoreceived it from the settlement of a traffic crash. Last week, theSouth Dakota Supreme Court agreed with a lower court and found theboy guilty of grand theft and ordered him to pay the money back.The court found that the teenager knew the money wasn't his andfailed to repay the credit union.