Thursday, May 24, 2012

Alex Kenjeev

Law school grad pays off $114,000 student loan in CASH... and brags about it by posting the receipt on Facebook

A Canadian law school graduate paid off his six-figure student loan in cash before posting the receipt on the internet for all the world to see.

Alex Kenjeev, from Montreal, came up with the plan to withdraw the $114,000 he still owed the University of Toronto for his law degree in dollar bills to get 'a few laughs'.

But the Royal Bank of Canada didn't think it was very funny, initially rejecting his bizarre request before telling him he'd have to pay for an armored truck to lug the small fortune around town.

'It was stressful enough to carry such a big debt load,' he told Business Insider.

'I thought it would be worth getting a few laughs out of it,' he said. 'Neither bank thought it was as funny as I thought it was.'

Mr Kenjeev, who graduated in 2009, managed to dodge the fee in the end and within a few days he was able to pick up the wads of cash, shove them in a canvas bag and walk the two blocks to Scotiabank where his student loan was held.

'I just plopped the bag down (on the counter),' he said.'They also didn't know how to handle it. At first the manager didn't want to accept the money.'

The teller made a few calls while Mr Kenjeev waited anxiously.

But his RBC withdrawal slip was then reviewed and staff went to work counting the bills by hand.

Mr Kenjeev, who works for venture capitalist firm O'Leary Ventures, said he had already paid off $76,000 in loans he took out during school but had been dragging out his payments while pouring most of his earnings into a start-up.

He insists he wasn't trying to show off by paying his balance in cash, but that he genuinely thought it would be funny.

'I was pretty naive,' Mr Kenjeev said. 'I didn't really realize how much of a hassle I'd cause for everybody. You just look at things and you figure cash is simpler than anything else.'

When the transaction was complete, he shook hands with the bank manager and walked out two-and-a-half hours later completely debt-free.

He then took a photo of his receipt and posted it on Facebook, but he still doesn't know who posted it on Reddit, where it received a raft of mostly negative comments. Many queried where the man was able to muster so much money.

'I was feeling very good about finally being debt-free,' Mr Kenjeev said. 'Some people have taken it pretty offensively. I actually think they have a point. It hadn't really occurred to me.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149047/Canadian-law-grad-pays-114-000-student-loan-CASH--brags-posting-receipt-Facebook.html#ixzz1vpZsRNBZ





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