Man wins 30-year battle to get cash from bank

A Chongqing man has finally got back his 670 yuan ($105), 30 years after a local bank froze his account.

Chen Haolong, 70, a resident of Shizhu county of Chongqing municipality, recently received a total 2,500 yuan -- the 670 yuan principal, plus 133 yuan interest and the rest as compensation -- after local prosecutors stepped in to mediate the case.

According to the Chongqing Morning Post, bank clerk Zhang Jie in 1982 mistakenly put 700 yuan into the account of Wang Liang, a colleague of Chen's. Unable to get the money back from Wang, Zhang froze Chen's account and transferred Chen's money out of it herself.

The bank didn't admit freezing Chen's account, but didn't say why Chen couldn't get his money out. Meanwhile, Chen continued to ask for his money back until 2008.

In 2009, Chen refused to accept 802 yuan the bank promised as principal and interest. He brought the case to the Shizhu county court in Aug 16, 2011. However, the court dismissed Chen's request to get interest according to the fixed-term deposit rate at that time.

Chen appealed to Shizhu county procuratorates again in April. After mediation, the bank finally agreed to give Chen extra compensation.

"I could use the 670 yuan to do a lot of things, which wasn't a small amount of money 30 years ago," Chen said. "But what can I do with 2,500 yuan right now?"

The purchasing power of the RMB and price levels have changed a great deal. Chen could have bought 2,500 kg of rice with 670 yuan 30 years ago. But 670 yuan today can buy only about 100 kg.