About US$1.8 billion (NZ$3b) has appeared in the South Carolina state government's bank account with zero explanation, leaving officials scratching their heads as they search for the source of the cash.
The state's governor Henry McMaster summed the situation up nicely: "There's something wrong somewhere.
"We don't know why it's there, what it's supposed to be used for, how long it's been there – that's a problem."
The Guardian reports state officials said the sum was discovered last October – but on the other hand, a state auditor claimed he knew about it in 2017 and presumed it was only there temporarily.
The situation "does not inspire confidence", McMaster admitted, adding it's "a serious question" for "all the people".
"We don't know where it was supposed to go, what [its] purpose was supposed to be, anything else at this point.
"I think we need to find that out."
The confusion comes after a South Carolina state official resigned last year over a 10-year, US$3.5b accounting error. But again, the details were unclear. The mystery money might or might not be related to that error and nobody seemed to know.
"Having $1.8b in an account that's supposed to be zero tells us that something is clearly wrong with our state's accounting and the problems aren't solved," state senator Larry Grooms opined.
The New York Times reported on a surreal hearing over the confounding cash this week.
Senator Tom Young Jr asked state treasurer Curtis Loftis Jr if he was sure the money existed at all.
"We believe that to be the case," came the response.
Grooms said: "We believe that it is real cash, but we have not been able to prove that it is real cash.
"That's a real problem if your banker can't certify if you have $1.8b or not. "
He added that "everyone wants a piece" of the potentially phantom cash.
"It's a problem if the banker can't tell you whose money it is."
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