What would you do with $470,000 ?

[40daws]

January 20, 2008 9:30 PM PST
This tech job's paycheck is a steal
Posted by Steven Musil
It may sound like a scene from the movie comedy Office Space, but authorities in New Jersey are not laughing.

Like one of the movie's characters--who erroneously receives paychecks--a Chicago-area man has allegedly been receiving nearly $100,000 a year for much of the past five years without actually showing up at the office or doing the job.

And that is what landed Anthony Armatys, 34, in jail about five years after he accepted a job at Avaya Communications, according to a report in the Daily Herald near Chicago. He accepted a job at Avaya in 2002, but backed out without starting the job, the paper reported. However, due to a system error, a paycheck was allegedly being deposited in to Armatys' bank account for the past five years--to the tune of about $470,000.

Armatys was arrested Wednesday at his Palatine, Ill., home on one count of theft by deception for knowingly accepting paychecks for a job he never had, police said. The arrest was the culmination of an 11-month probe by detectives in New Jersey, where the communications company is based.

He may have been the unwitting recipient of a clerical error, but--in the eyes of legal-savvy Daily Herald readers--Armatys crossed the line when he allegedly called Fidelity Investments, identified himself as an Avaya employee, and arranged the withdrawal of about $2,000 from an employee retirement fund to which the company had contributed.

Armatys is being held on $50,000 bail while he is awaiting extradition to New Jersey.

The Armatys family told the newspaper that it had "no comment at all."

Umm, yeah. I think prosecutors are gonna have to ask you to return those paychecks


This is incredible. This guy was already getting over and had to push it to get $2000.00 ?!

[sillyvia13]

oh man thats so cool and sucks so much all in one...
why retire early, keep going til you die! lol...
and how the hell to you not show up to a job that pays 100k a year!

[SimpleSexy180]

haha wow that guys fails. its called being smart. setup a place outside the country, then bounce. pay somebody to send you your monies.

[Koopa Troopa]

I'd buy a Nissan GT-R, dress up as Guile and make a video of me flash kicking it apart like in Street Sighter II.. Then I'd post the video on YouTube.

That's awesome though.. I'd have had that shit scattered across quite a bit of accounts and investment funds and never mentioned it to anyone in hopes of them never finding it.

[40daws]

^ My thoughts as well. My thinking is he had to have another job paying about the same or more.

[RiversideS13]

it is like selling your ass for 5 years in jail, for a price of $470k

no thank you

[SHIFT_*grind*]

The arrest was the culmination of an 11-month probe by detectives in New Jersey

There must be some dumb fucking detectives in New Jersey. 11 months to figure this out? For real?

[steve shadows]

invest in real estate :hahano:

[BustedS13]

i'd
1.) buy a new vette and the longest insurance policy possible
2.) invest the rest

[status:one]

damn, if I was getting money deposited in my bank account like that I probably wouldn't say anything. I would just figure that it was their fuck up and I'd go along living off it.

[azndoc]

There must be some dumb fucking detectives in New Jersey. 11 months to figure this out? For real?

That's what I was thinking.

Yo Carlos what's up with your NJ people man.

You guys must get away with murder over there.

[Matej]

damn, if I was getting money deposited in my bank account like that I probably wouldn't say anything. I would just figure that it was their fuck up and I'd go along living off it.
Exactly, and if someone finds out act like you don't know who's depositing the money, or if you do say you don't know why they're doing it, it's not your fault because maybe they're just really generous. Like last month I saw a news story on a lady who has been receiving money from someone for the past 20 years, and she doesn't know who keeps sending it to her.

[Phlip]

What would I do with $470k? All things considered, I would not quit working... I would distribute this way:
1) $150k on a big house (gotta love NC living)
2) $150k another big house to keep my family away from me
3) $150k invested in something that won't cost me my ass in the end... Come to think of it, I would put it into a fucking shoebox until the economy is more confidence inspiring.
4) $10k into "finishing" my car and no more than $5k into securing a cheap daily.
5) $5k into that savings account that I don't touch...

This guy was a fucking dipshit... He is collecting $100k a year for a job he doesn't have and files bankruptcy and then pulls $1900 out of a retirement account after calling Fidelity and behaving like he actually is an employee. I was reading somewhere that the downfall of most criminals is narcissism, and this looks A LOT like the case, he would get up and act like he was going to work, and since he was collecting big moneys he wasn't working for, he lies on bankruptcy statements, but just to take it a bit further, he commits to the straw that broke the camel's back with that last move.

[los_inc]

There must be some dumb fucking detectives in New Jersey. 11 months to figure this out? For real?
jersey cops catch even catch a cold.
but they sure as hell enjoy harassing you if you
drive a 18 year old rust box
-los

[exitspeed]

Pay off my debt.

Pay off my house.

Finish remodeling.

Start my own design/photography studio and hire one of my friends and maybe Dorki Dori. ;)

[DreamN]

I'd blow it all on cars, cheap hookers, and coke.

[gripstr]

I'd make a my own track course with that

[VROOOM]

What would I do with $470k? All things considered, I would not quit working... I would distribute this way:
1) $150k on a big house (gotta love NC living)
2) $150k another big house to keep my family away from me
3) $150k invested in something that won't cost me my ass in the end... Come to think of it, I would put it into a fucking shoebox until the economy is more confidence inspiring.
4) $10k into "finishing" my car and no more than $5k into securing a cheap daily.
5) $5k into that savings account that I don't touch...

This guy was a fucking dipshit... He is collecting $100k a year for a job he doesn't have and files bankruptcy and then pulls $1900 out of a retirement account after calling Fidelity and behaving like he actually is an employee. I was reading somewhere that the downfall of most criminals is narcissism, and this looks A LOT like the case, he would get up and act like he was going to work, and since he was collecting big moneys he wasn't working for, he lies on bankruptcy statements, but just to take it a bit further, he commits to the straw that broke the camel's back with that last move.

I wanna live in NC. you could barely buy a house for 470k where i live

[eastcoastS14]

after I realised what was goin on Id let it accumulate while i continued to work another job...then when it got to a decent amount id withdraw it all and move it to an account in the bahamas or something so the govt couldnt see it or get it back

I wanna live in NC. you could barely buy a house for 470k where i live

really? I always thought long beach was broke status

[VROOOM]

I'd make a my own track course with that


yes!!! if i ever win lots of money im buying my own island in the pacific. build a huge race track, house, hjuge garage and a beer factory. then buy a huge boat to bring all my friends over on weekends

[fliprayzin240sx]

I would have been in Philippines already living there with my ATM card in the back pocket.

[arkive43]

wrd that shit would be in an off shore account collecting interest or how ever u launder money. id play it cool and keep my job and retire early.

[eastcoastS14]

its always geedy ppl that end up getting fucked by shit like this....gets 100k a year of free money but wants more.....ass

[SW20Racer]

2 chicks at the same time.

(couldnt help it, i was watching office space and reading this. had to say something.)

[Bobafreak]

I would buy a couple of houses and invest. Make more money.

[cxlo8331]

+1 for hookers and blow.

damn, stuff like this never happens to me.

[Bobafreak]

+1 for hookers and blow.

damn, stuff like this never happens to me.

you gotta be like 70 then maybe if you dont get over excited and have a heart attack then you blow that shit like no tomorrow.

[jskateborders]

Id put a chunk in my debt...

[k's_silvia2.0]

Build a close to half mil 240 :keke:

[ms!3]

470k. man thats alot. id prob drop about 10K on my car, buy a nice daily. then save the rest until i reach the "real world."

[Farzam]

New house
New car
Investments
Big party
Charity
etc

But yeah that guy is pretty stupid

[TheWolf]

I'd make sure I could prove that I gave it all away... and had like $300 in my account with no assets in my name.. can't squeze blood from a turnip.

[corriganjoshua]

Where can I get an application? j/k

[SHIFT_*grind*]

NC housing is dirt cheap. My extended family's all from Sanford, and my cousin down there with a 4 bedroom house has a $560/month mortgage. :eek3:

[Sir]

i wonder if he did his income taxes as I'm sure they sent him out W2s.

[40daws]

^Good point.

[deadpirate]

470k?/


#1-roughly $165-$175k pay off all my debt
#2-$50k-finish my car, and get a daily
#3-drop roughly $75k into my company
#4-$85k into a bank account in a different country
#5-$85k into multiple bank accounts in the states

[axiomatik]

this guys an idiot. did he honestly think no one would ever notice? sure it would be nice to get free money, but if you started getting money from a job you didn't take, it's tantamount to stealing.