Know your account number

Relief Unlimited had a sub-office in a provincial town to which they regularly made large bank transfers. One day the programme manager in the country's head office was asked to authorise what appeared to be the regular transfer to the sub-office. She noted that the name of the account was Relief Umlimited but assumed it was just a misprint.

She almost signed the payment voucher, but the accountant spotted that the bank account number (which the programme manager did not normally check) was not the usual one. Investigations revealed that the local district commissioner had opened a bank account in the name of Relief Umlimited. It was never conclusively established how they had managed to put the incorrect details on a Relief Unlimited payment voucher.