A parking fine like one you have never before seen

What would you do if you received a parking ticket for 28 million shekels? What kind of illegal parking zone do you have to park illegally in to qualify for such a high fine?

Mynet reports on what is clearly a mistake, but the kind of mistake that can give someone a heart attack.

Some fellow in Tel Aviv, Tzion Elgarisi, collected his mail and discovered a letter from the court. He nervously opened the letter, his heart skipped a beat. The letter was a warning that if he does not pay his debt of 28.5 million NIS immediately, legal proceedings will be taken.

Elgarisi admits that he had parked, a year prior, in an illegal parking spot. He had received a 250NIS fine. He was planning on challenging the fine, but then had decided to just pay it, which he did, and says he can prove it.

Somehow, that ballooned into a 28+million shekels fine. Even with court costs and interest, it is a bit much!

It seems the fellow has a little bit of a sense of humor about it, even as it was a nerve-racking experience.  He says he called City Hall and the clerk laughed when she heard about the problem, and she told him the computer went crazy. He says he asked for a payment plan - payments spread out over his entire life, and that his kids and grandkids will continue paying for it.. He also said even if he would sell everything he owns to pay the fine, he would not even get close to raising that kind of money.

Thankfully, the bureaucrats didn't turn it into a bureaucratic nightmare where they have to look into it, and the problem never goes away, but they took care of it right away and City Hall confirmed that Elgarisi has no open fines waiting to be paid.

And they say parking in Tel Aviv is expensive!

Funny story, but not one I would ever want to be a part of..

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