Four burgers at a Burger King in California cost George Beane a whopping $4,334.33.
Beane ordered two Whopper Jr.s and two Rodeo cheeseburgers when he pulled up tothe drive-through window. The cashier, however, forgot that she'd entered the $4.33 charge on his debit card and punched in the numbers again without erasing the original ones — thus creating a four-figure bill.
The electronic charge went through to the Beane's Bank of America checking account and left the couple penniless. Their mortgage payment was due and they worried checks they had written would bounce, George's wife Pat said.
Burger King did not charge the Beanes for their meal, and the couple got their savings back.
For those three days, those were the most expensive value burgers in history,\ Pat Beane said.
—Associated Press
Because perhaps hundreds of Japanese Yakuza gangsters are nearing retirement age, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has drafted rules for the gangsters to apply for benefits.
Since organized crime leaves no employment paper trail, ex-mobsters must supply a letter of retirement from their crime boss, although local governments are expected to accept as partial proof tattoos, criminal records and demonstrations of missing finger tips (the sign of traditional Yakuza punishment for mistakes).
—The London Times Eight U.S. sailors at a Florida navy station fraudulently married Polish and Romanian women in order to collect housing allowances, according to federal charges filed Tuesday. The women used the sham marriages to apply for U.S. citizenship, while the men collected $35,000 in tax-free allowances.
—Reuters Weekly Darwin Award (financial version)This week's winner: When a German woman found a wallet containing 1,000 euros ($1,220) she decided it was better to get a reward from the owner—even if that meant resorting to extortion.
Police said the 47-year-old found the owner's phone number in the wallet and told the pensioner she could only have it back for 100 euros ""plus 20 euros travel costs."" The owner agreed to the terms, and tipped off police, who arrested the woman with the wallet at the handover point.
—Reuters
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