BERLIN: An obviously tired German bank employee fell asleep on his keyboard and accidentally transformed a minor transfer into a €222 million (US$293 million) order, a court heard.

The Hessen labour court heard that the man was supposed to transfer just €62.40 from a bank account belonging to a retiree, but instead “fell asleep for an instant, while pushing onto the number 2 key on the keyboard” – making it a huge €222,222,222.22 order.

The bank discovered the mistake shortly afterwards and corrected the error.

The case was taken to court by the man’s 48-year-old colleague who was fired for letting the mistake slip through when verifying the order.

The court ruled that the plaintiff should be reinstated in his job.

 (AFP)