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One of the most memorable schemes in the world of movie theft has to be the accounting scam in director Mike Judge’s Office Space. Inspired by a similar grift from Superman III, the pop culture inspiration only made this fictional act of thievery all the more endearing.
That much has been confirmed in a recent real life crime, where a programmer was busted for a similar crime that emulated both of those films, and then some. Looks like someone’s Hulu subscription may have gotten them into trouble.
Per the rundown reported by the Seattle Times, 28-year-old Ermenildo “Ernie” Castro wasn’t too young to gain inspiration from the 1999 cult comedy classic. Through the usage of several types of malware, Castro was able to divert, and sometimes double, shipping fees paid by the customers of his former employer, Zulily. What’s more, part of the $400,000 that he’s been charged with stealing came from adjusting the prices of in-house merchandise, allowing him to pay $250 for $41,000 worth of goods.
In perhaps the least brilliant move of this entire shakedown, Ermenildo Castro actually named documents on his work computer “Office Space project.” While the movie has certainly inspired people throughout the world, as seen in both last year’s big Wal-Mart ad and an episode of NCIS, neither of those instances involved any criminal activity. At least, none that anyone could make a valid claim towards.
Honestly, if he really wanted to be accurate, he should have probably named it “Superman III project.” Here’s the scene from the DC movie that inspired Mike Judge’s merry band of white collar criminals:
If only the perpetrator had stuck to the Office Space scheme of small rounding errors building up over time. While Ernie Castro would have still been nabbed eventually, he might have had some more moments to try and purchase malfunctioning office equipment to destroy in a wide open field.
The power of the movies can run in both directions. One day, you’ve got Office Space inspiring TGI Fridays to ditch the flair and introducing the term “ass clown” to popular speech, and the next you’ve got stories like this reminding us to think a little harder before we attempt crimes that incur two counts of first-degree theft and an additional charge of first-degree identity theft.
You can watch Office Space on the streaming device of your choice, provided you have access to either Hulu or AMC+ at the time of this writing. Though we here at CinemaBlend must stress that if you’re going to get any inspiration from the comedy milestone, let it be to approach your own job with a state of crime-free zen, or to realize when it’s time to look for a new profession, if only because you’re not quite satisfied with the one you’re currently involved in. Either way, crime doesn’t pay!