FUNDS-TRANSFER ERROR GIVES MILLIONS EXTRA TO MEXICAN CONTRACTOR.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

A slip-up by the Los Angeles City Treasurer's Office made a contractor in Mexico a multimillionaire for a day.

Miguel Favela with Operadora de Alimentos Del Mar in Mexico City got a city wire Monday for $9,008,300 - instead of the $9,008 he was owed. Favela is one of the Harbor Department's international representatives paid to develop shipping business and work with shippers outside the L.A. area.

Treasurer Joya De Foor said a staff member got a warrant for the proper amount from the City Controller's Office and incorrectly entered the amount - a $8,999,292 mistake that the supervisor failed to catch, so the money was wired to the account in a San Diego bank.

``That day was a particularly heavy day for wiring,'' De Foor said. ``The zeros can tend to run together for some people. We've never had this problem before.''

De Foor declined to identify the staff members, citing personnel reasons, but said they were very upset about the error, and were otherwise ``very good and conscientious'' employees.

The same supervisor who let the wire go out caught the error a few hours later, using a system that double-checked the deposited amounts after they were sent. The overpayment was sent back to the city Tuesday.

Since the error, the treasurer's office has instituted a new safeguard that requires a staff member to tally up all the wires before they are actually sent to make sure they match with the correct total submitted for payment.

City Controller Laura Chick called the wire ``a very scary mistake.''

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com