"Divine providence" no defense to bank fraud

When his bank mistakenly gave him almost a quarter million dollars, a man in Pennsylvania decided that he was welcome to keep the funds because the mistake was "divine providence." Now he and his estranged wife face criminal charges of theft and conspiracy.

In their defense, they gave tens of thousands of dollars to charities:

The trouble started when a $1,772.50 deposit to the Pratts' FNB Bank account showed up as $177,250 last summer. Police say that instead of telling the bank, they withdrew the money, quit their jobs and moved to Florida.

Randy Pratt tells the Bloomsburg Press Enterprise he did attempt to ask the bank what happened, but was ignored. He said he considered the money "a gift from God."

He says the couple gave away thousands of dollars, including $25,000 to a Florida church shelter for the homeless.

The county judge has apparently rejected this explanation (after all, you can't make god appear in court) and refused to lower his bail.