Is there a penalty for using someone else's money to mistakenly transfer into your account?
(Baonghean.vn) - Ms. Nguyen Van Anh in Hung Nguyen district asked, is it a violation of the law to receive money that someone else mistakenly transferred into her account but not return it but instead use that money? And how will this behavior be handled?
Reply
Articles 579 and 580 of the 2015 Civil Code clearly state that when a person receives money mistakenly transferred into his/her account by another person (gaining property benefits without legal basis, causing damage to another person), that person must return the entire amount to the owner or other entity with rights to that property; if the owner or other entity with rights to the property cannot be found, it must be handed over to a competent state agency.
Thus, when someone mistakenly transfers money into the account, the recipient should contact the bank to resolve the issue to avoid violating the law.
Using the money that someone else mistakenly transferred is an act of illegally appropriating or holding another person's property. In particular, if the amount of money illegally held is less than 10 million VND, the violator will be subject to an administrative fine. Specifically, according to Point d, Clause 2, Article 15, Decree 144/2021/ND-CP dated December 31, 2021 of the Government stipulating sanctions for administrative violations in the field of security, order and social safety: If there is an act of illegally using, buying, selling, mortgaging, pledging or holding another person's property, the person will be administratively fined from 3 to 5 million VND. Point b, Clause 4 of this Article also stipulates that the holder must return the property due to illegal holding.
In addition to the provisions on administrative sanctions, the act of spending money that someone else mistakenly transferred into an account can also be prosecuted for the crime of illegal possession of property.
According to Article 176 of the Penal Code 2015, amended and supplemented in 2017, the crime of illegal possession of property is stipulated as follows:
1. Anyone who intentionally fails to return to the owner, legal manager or fails to hand over to the responsible agency property worth from VND 10,000,000 to under VND 200,000,000 or under VND 10,000,000 but the property is a relic, antique or object of historical or cultural value that was mistakenly delivered or that he/she found or caught, after the owner, legal manager or responsible agency requests to receive the property back according to the provisions of law, shall be subject to a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000, non-custodial reform for up to 02 years or imprisonment from 03 months to 02 years.
2. Crime of appropriating property worth 200,000,000 VND or more or national treasures shall be punished with imprisonment from 01 year to 05 years.
Thus, if using an amount of money from 10 to 200 million VND that was mistakenly transferred by another person, the person will be prosecuted with a fine of 10 to 50 million VND or non-custodial reform for up to 02 years or imprisonment from 03 months to 02 years.