If you’re familiar with the “community chest’’ cards in the game Monopoly, you probably know that most of the cards are positive. There’s the “Advance to Go (Collect $200),’’ the “You have won second prize in a beauty contest – collect $10,’’ and, the “Bank error in your favor – collect $200.’’

Of course, if you’re familiar with those cards, you’re probably also well aware that Monopoly is a board game, not a simulation of real life.

Well, unfortunately for one Georgia man, a teen that uses the same bank as him was not familiar with that concept. You see, when the man went to deposit $31,000 into his account and the teller mistakenly put it in the account of an 18-year-old with the same name, the teen took that as a signal that he should go on a shopping spree.


According to a report from the Athens Banner & Herald, the teen managed to withdraw $20,000 in cash and spend another $5,000 with his debit card in the 10 days between when the mistake was made and when the man realized his money was missing.

Not surprisingly, things did not go well for the teen when the jig was up. From the Banner & Herald:

A deputy went to the teen's house, where the teen again said he thought the money came from his grandmother's estate. The deputy told the teen the bank wants the money back as soon as possible, so the teen told the officer he would go to the bank and try to settle the matter without going to jail, according to the report. However, the teen never showed back at the bank and banking officials told investigators last week that if the suspect didn't return the money, they would prosecute.

It’s no surprise that the bank is considering pressing charges, but it’s weird that they’re giving the teen a chance to do the honest thing he neglected to do the first time around.

Honestly, with a person like that, there’s only one way to handle this – speak their language. Give him the one community chest card everyone dreads: “Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.’’

(H/T Uproxx)