Overview

• An assistant at Dan Consorcio Industrial de Alimentos de Chile was mistakenly paid £127,000 in May 2022, roughly 300 times his usual £386 monthly wage.
• The company accused the worker of theft after he reportedly promised to return the funds and resigned three days later.
• The judge held the incident was an unauthorised collection, which blocks criminal prosecution.
• The employee keeps the money for now as the employer says it will seek annulment of the judgment and pursue all legal options to recover the funds.
• The case underscores payroll control failures and the legal distinction in Chile between theft and unauthorised collection.