STRATEGIC PARTNERS
One of life's little pop quizzes: If an ATM showered you with more than $5,500 in unexpected cash, would you return it?by Ann All, editor
January 6, 2000
When Keith Obraske stopped at a Fridley, Minn., convenience store on his way to work, all he wanted was $20 from an ATM. Instead, he got a moral dilemma. After the 23-year-old ceiling sprayer took his $20, the machine continued to spew money at him -- $5,580 in all. "It just kept coming and coming and coming," Obraske said. "I was thinking, 'Jeez, did I put in an extra zero?' " After dispensing a stack of $20 bills, the machine displayed a message that it was unable to complete the transaction because of a mechanical error. Obraske, who hadn't gotten a receipt, pocketed the three-inch wad of cash and drove to work at Universal Spray and Drywall Co. Noting that there was no camera at the ATM, Obraske said he was tempted to keep the money. But, just like in the cartoons, Obraske's little angel overruled the devil. "By the time I got to work, I knew I'd have to give it back." After giving the money to his uncle and coworker, Jim Obraske, for safekeeping, Keith Obraske returned to the store and found a phone number on the ATM for the machine's deployer, TCF Financial Corp. He didn't even realize how large his windfall had been until his uncle -- who by then had counted it -- told him. When his uncle returned the cash to a branch of TCF National Bank, he was disappointed by the bank manager's "thank-you" and gift of two sports bags. Feeling that his nephew deserved a larger reward for his honesty, the uncle called the local newspaper and TV stations. The machine's owner then sweetened the deal, giving Obraske $500 and four tickets to a Minnesota Vikings game. Obraske gave two of the tickets, for end zone seats, to his uncle. "He called the paper and got the ball rolling with the publicity and everything," Obraske said. Dan Engel, a senior vice president with TCF Financial, called Obraske's actions an example of "great Minnesota honesty." In an article published in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Engel said, "This is why you can write checks at McDonald's (in Minnesota)." Obraske, who is building a new house for his bride-to-be, plans to use the $500 toward a down payment. "I'm closing on the 15th," he said.
