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British Columbia woman will stop receiving paychecks for a job she doesn’t have
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British Columbia woman will stop receiving paychecks for a job she doesn’t have

There appears to be an end in sight for the strange predicament facing a British Columbia woman who was being paid by the federal government for a job she was hired for but never made it through.

Vanita Lindsay said she was told the biweekly payments — which have totaled nearly $9,000 since they started showing up in her bank account over the summer — would stop.

A frustrated Lindsay told her story to CTV News on Tuesday and on Wednesday she received a call from a manager at Employment and Social Development Canada.

“She told me I wasn’t going to get paid next cycle,” Lindsay said, adding that she was also told she would soon receive a letter explaining how to repay the money.

Repaying the $8,816.20 will not be a problem.

“I put it all in a different account because it’s not my money,” Lindsay said.

But she still has unanswered questions, including whether she will receive a T4 and whether she will be charged interest.

“It would be upsetting if they wanted interest,” Lindsay said.

CTV News asked a tax lawyer for his opinion.

“The short answer is no,” said Fayme Hodal, of KSW Lawyers.

Hodal says that because Lindsay never asked for the money and never worked for the agency, there is, in his opinion, no basis for interest to be applied to the reimbursement.

However, anything can happen.

“Could a wrongful payer try to charge interest? Most likely,” Hodal said. “I would like to hope not. I would certainly like to think that in this situation the answer will be ‘no,’ but it absolutely is. Not impossible.”

Lindsay hopes that once the money is repaid, she will be able to leave without further problems from the federal government.

“It would be really annoying because it’s not my fault, they paid me,” Lindsay said. “I didn’t ask for salary because I resigned.”

In July, Lindsay was hired for a work-from-home position with the Canada Pension Plan. She changed her mind before starting, but received six paychecks before contacting CTV News.