Jerry Mika said he received the check for the hefty sum in the mail after requesting a $15 refund for his being charged twice to reactivate his license to work as a real estate agent, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Tuesday.

"I kept trying to find a way to make it legitimate so I could cash it," he said. "I just couldn't find a reason why the state would be sending me so much."

Mika returned the check to Utah's Division of Finance Office.

Francine Giani, executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce, lauded Mika for making the right choice.

"Clearly we have an honest, honest citizen. I wish I could do something more than say thanks," she told the Tribune. "We appreciate him returning the check and letting us know about the problem. This never happened before and as a result we will put in some additional internal controls."

"I'm not making any excuses but we are on a new computer system. The old system required us to put the amount in twice; this one only once," Giani said. "We would have caught the mistake when we justify our checks every three weeks."