SOUTH BEND -- Many Michiana residents at one time or another may have opened a notice from their bank asking them to cover an overdrawn checking account.

Not many, however, have likely received a letter asking them to deposit nearly $4 million to cover a shortfall.

That is what happened to 84-year-old River Park resident Helen Straub this week.

She was understandably taken aback to open a notice from Wells Fargo Bank asking her to deposit $3,995,736.19 to cover a check she had written earlier for $38.17 to pay her electric bill.

"That's a pretty good electric bill," quipped Straub, a widow and grandmother. "I know mistakes are made, but . . ."

As best as Straub can decipher things, somehow the monthly check she mailed in October to American Electric Power was transformed into a $4,000,038.17 charge against her account during processing.

Since that was well over the amount in her checking account, she received a routine, computer-generated letter from the bank asking her to deposit the difference to keep the account from being closed.

Until a thorough investigation of the check's processing is done, it's difficult to tell for sure how the multimillion-dollar mistake arose, said local Wells Fargo spokesman Hugh Davis.

Checks are processed by the banks of the sender and the recipient. They also are normally routed through one of the Federal Reserve System banks.

Davis said bank officials will retrieve a photocopy of Straub's check made during processing to see whether they can determine how the error occurred.

Straub's account was adjusted to its correct amount earlier this week when she brought the mistake to the attention of officials at Wells Fargo's River Park branch, Davis said. The $25 fee for having a check returned for insufficient funds also was waived.

Straub said she has been a longtime Wells Fargo customer. She has lived at her River Park home for 30 years.

"When I got the letter from the bank, I first thought someone had gotten in and stolen one of my checks," she said.

Her experience should serve as a reminder to others, particularly seniors, to check their bank statements closely when they receive them, Straub said.

Meanwhile, the $4 million error gave her something to share with her daughter and with relatives who were visiting this week.

"It's just one of those things," she said. "It's weird."

South Bend Tribune

-- Anonymous, November 08, 2002