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US government accidentally mails $1,200 Covid-19 stimulus checks to at least 130 bewildered Austrians – report Gift from Trump? More than 100 Austrians get US Treasury stimulus cheques by mistake
(about 1 hour later)
Some 130 Austrians have received coronavirus relief checks from the American government, according to local media, leaving many puzzled as few, if any, of the recipients are eligible for the payments. Nearly 130 Austrians have been stunned to receive $1,200 cheques signed by none other than US President Donald Trump. Washington’s sudden generosity appears to be a result of a mistake in its Covid-19 relief package system.
At least 108 checks from the US Treasury Department – each worth $1,200 and bearing the signature of President Donald Trump – have already been cashed at two banks in Upper Austria, public broadcaster ORF reported, citing several people who received checks in the mail. Another local report noted that 20 others had brought checks to the regional Oberbank, totaling more than $150,000 between the three banks. Citizens of the small Alpine nation, located thousands of miles away from America, were baffled by the envelopes containing what was described as economic relief money from the US. One of the recipients, 73-year-old retiree Manfred Barnreiter, told local media he initially thought it was some sort of a scam.
Manfred Barnreiter, a 73-year-old Austrian pensioner, said both he and his wife were sent $1,200 checks from the US government earlier this year, despite the fact that neither reside in the US or hold American citizenship. However, a local bank confirmed the cheques were genuine, and the man was able to cash it in three days. And he certainly was not alone in receiving an unexpected financial boost from across the pond: three banks in just Upper Austria reported 128 of their customers cashing such cheques – indicating that more than $150,000 was paid out to the Austrians by the US.
“We quietly went to the bank… where we were told they’ll see if it’s real. Three days later, we had the money in our bank account,” said Barnreiter, who initially believed he was the victim of fraud. He admitted that he “felt bad” about taking the cash at first, but ultimately concluded it was “peanuts” compared to the vast sums spent on lobbying in the US. Back in March, the US passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – a $2 trillion economic relief package to help the nation cope with the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic that involved direct payments to certain categories of US citizens. People earning less than $99,000 a year (or $198,000 for couples) were eligible for $1,200 payments per adult, and an additional $500 for each child under 17.
While the elderly retiree currently has no tie to the United States, he said he worked in the country for a few years in the 1960s, providing a possible explanation for the mix-up. Austrian bankers believe that the development was a result of some mistake in the US economic stimulus package system intended for Americans. Gerhard Meissl, the head of data quality and digitalization at Upper Austria's Sparkasse bank, said that some recipients might have worked or lived in the US at some point, while Paul Kaiser, head of portfolio management at Linz's Raiffeisen bank branch, blamed it on some administrative error in the US system.
His wife, however, has never set foot on US soil.  Barnreiter had briefly worked in the US as a waiter back in the 1960s, and even receives a small pension from America. However, inexplicably his wife, who has never even been to the US, also received a cheque.
The payments have not been confined to pensioners, as several Austrians who recently returned from the US after stints as ‘au pair’ childcare workers have also received checks, according to Gerald Meissl, a top official at the Sparkasse bank in Upper Austria. The Austrian cases are far from the first blunders in the distribution of the US stimulus payments. In June, the US Treasury sent cheques to a million dead people amounting to a whopping $1.4 billion due to an error arising from the fact that the Treasury and the tax authorities did not compare their data.
Paul Kaiser, head of portfolio management at the Raiffeisen bank branch in Linz, said the mysterious payouts were likely related to an “administrative error,” pointing to a previous mishap in which US authorities sent out more than 1 million checks to people who had died, totaling some $1.4 billion, according to Politico. For those in Austria receiving payments, Kaiser said Washington may seek to reclaim the money, but noted that was unlikely. In another incident, thousands of foreign workers who had already left the US also received $1,200 cheques in early August. One tax preparation company told NPR that its clients in 129 countries, including Brazil, Canada, China, India, Nigeria and South Korea, had received the US payment.
Other foreign workers have also apparently received US checks by mistake. Last month, NPR reported that “thousands” of people who entered the States on temporary work visas were sent relief payments, many of them successfully cashing the checks and spending the money in their home countries, including in Brazil, India, China, Canada, Nigeria and South Korea. Like this story? Share it with a friend!
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