Amsterdam missing another €5 million after mistaken bank transfers

Amsterdam discovered another mistake in the city's money transfers. This time more than 5 million euros was wrongly paid in three double transfers, the mayor and aldermen wrote to the city council, Het Parool reports. The mistakes came to light in the preparation of 2015's financial statements, according to the newspaper. The biggest amount - 4,777,192 euros - was paid to a healthcare institution as an advance on a subsidy for sheltered housing. The institution already returned the twice paid money. More than 400 thousand euros were transferred twice in rent for a building on Laarderhoogteweg, which serves as a training center for welfare recipients. The landlord returned 280 thousand of the over-payment. The municipality also paid four bills twice to housing corporation Ymere, totaling in a sum of 31 thousand euros. Ymere agreed to return the money soon. These mistakes bear a resemblance to the 2013 blunder, when 188 million euros was paid in living expenses contribution instead of 1.88 million euros. The city's financial position is currently under investigation as a result of this blunder. Earlier this year a risk assessment on the financial situation, commissioned by the municipality itself, stated that "there is concern at all levels of the organization.” A city report in 2014 came to a similar conclusion.