THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala University’s Centre for Latin American Studies is paying the price for what could be the costliest ‘typo’ in its financial history — a careless bank clerk swapping ‘ ₹’ with ‘$’ while transferring funds to a Brazilbased journalist as remuneration for four online lectures he delivered in 2023.The difference between the intended fee of Rs 20,000 and the amount that went through, $20,000, left Kerala University poorer by Rs 16.5 lakh. Worse, all efforts to recover the excess amount have failed. The funds transfer was to designated account of Kathleen Martinic, wife of guest lecturer Milan Sime Martinic. The mistake, officials said, occurred at SBI Tejaswini branch in Thiruvananthapuram’s Technopark.The centre reported the loss to the university in 2024, after which the authorities wrote to the guest lecturer. “Martinic promised to credit the excess amount back to the university account. However, the money never reached us, though he claimed to have repaid it,” Gireesh Kumar, head of the centre, told TOI .Martinic died a few months later, further diminishing chances of university getting back the excess Rs 16.5 lakh sent on June 15, 2023.State govt had sanctioned Rs 20 lakh to the centre for a student exchange programme. The funds were transferred to the account of a consulting group by Kathleen. The centre has since filed a complaint with banking ombudsman, but the issue is unresolved. SBI, which admitted its mistake, sought the university’s assistance in urging the recipient to refund the amount received.
