August 21, 1995: $95,000 Junk Mail Check - Patrick Combs
The Art Bell Archive · Arthur William Bell III
April 17, 20232h 55m
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Show Notes
Patrick Combs, a San Francisco author, joins Art Bell to tell the astonishing true story of how he deposited a junk mail check for $95,093.35 into his First Interstate Bank ATM as a joke and watched the money appear in his account. What began as a prank, like depositing Monopoly money, escalated into a genuine legal standoff when the bank credited the full amount without question.
Combs explains that after researching banking law, he discovered three separate legal grounds supporting his claim to the funds. The word non-negotiable has no legal meaning on a check under UCC law. The bank missed its midnight deadline to notify him of the dishonored check by sixteen days. And the issuance of a cashier's check for the exact deposit amount constitutes final payment under court precedent. When the bank responded with threats of fraud charges rather than courtesy, Combs refused to return the money on principle. He reveals the junk mail company unknowingly mailed forty million legally valid checks across the country. Callers passionately debate the ethics of keeping money that was never earned versus holding institutions accountable to their own rules.
A wildly entertaining broadcast that exposes a bizarre loophole in American banking law through one man's accidental experiment.
Combs explains that after researching banking law, he discovered three separate legal grounds supporting his claim to the funds. The word non-negotiable has no legal meaning on a check under UCC law. The bank missed its midnight deadline to notify him of the dishonored check by sixteen days. And the issuance of a cashier's check for the exact deposit amount constitutes final payment under court precedent. When the bank responded with threats of fraud charges rather than courtesy, Combs refused to return the money on principle. He reveals the junk mail company unknowingly mailed forty million legally valid checks across the country. Callers passionately debate the ethics of keeping money that was never earned versus holding institutions accountable to their own rules.
A wildly entertaining broadcast that exposes a bizarre loophole in American banking law through one man's accidental experiment.