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Qatar Bank Makes Expatriate A Millionaire By Mistake

A small mistake by a Qatar bank made Michael Asemota an instant millionaire

The world is shocked by how a Nigerian businessman in Qatar Michael Asemota reacted when a small bank error made him an instant millionaire.

Michael Asemota - Doha News

Michael Asemota – Doha News

For several hours, Michael Asemota, a Nigerian expatriate, was a millionaire when a Qatar bank mistakenly deposited more than a million and a half Qatari Rial (nearly half a million US dollars) into his bank account.

It all started when Michael Asemota, who manages his own cleaning and hospitality contracting company in Qatar, opened up an account with an undisclosed Qatar bank last month.

Asemota had requested that a cheque for QR150,200 be deposited into his newly opened bank account. To his surprise, he received an alert declaring that QR1,502,000 been transferred to his account.

“After opening the account with the bank, I checked my balance to make withdrawals for a supply job and found the huge sum. I was amazed and decided to contact the bank,” he told Qatar Tribune.

While anyone in his place would’ve gone on a wild shopping spree, Asemota rushed to the bank to resolve the mistake.

“I knew the money did not belong to me and shouldn’t be in my account in the first place, so there were no motives and temptations to keep it,” he said

An additional zero had been added to original sum when the bank employee working on his account processed the cheque, giving Asemota ten times the money he had deposited.

“I went to see the manager to report the error of QR1,502,000 deposited into my account. After checking for confirmation, the manager gave me a warm handshake in appreciation,” the 37-year-old recalled.

It is hard to imagine what one would do in his place, but it is equally hard to imagine that returning the money asap would be the first thing to do.

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