-
A small legal case in Southern Maine could spell big trouble for banks, particularly since it suggests that even strong electronic security doesn't necessarily build a shield large enough to keep either crooks or plaintiffs away.
July 9 -
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) said that an unauthorized party gained access to business data belonging to customers of its accounts-payable service but that it has not detected a theft or wrongful use of the data.
July 3
Not all bank misbehavior involves billions of dollars, nor is it all as woefully complicated as
A banker simply can issue himself a debit card under a customer's account and withdraw $300 a day for more than a year, as a JPMorgan Chase banker is alleged to have done in a new lawsuit.
The ruse is said to have begun as Alzheimer's disease tightened its grip on Herman Lafayette of Louisiana.
Lafayette's legal curator, LaaDonis Williams, is suing the bank and the banker for negligence, breach of contract, fraud and other charges in U. S. District Court in New Orleans, asking that the bank repay more than $100,000 in stolen funds. The banker is not named
"Defendant John Doe took advantage of Mr. Lafayette's illness. John Doe, as an agent of Chase Bank, closed Mr. Lafayette's current bank accounts, opened up other accounts and assigned himself (John Doe) a debit card to Mr. Lafayette's account," the suit charges.
The bank says it's pursuing the matter, but it has yet to file a reply in court.
"We only recently learned of the lawsuit and we take these matters very seriously and are investigating," Patrick Linehan, a JPMorgan spokesman, says.
The lawsuit does not identify the banker because JPMorgan Chase would not release his name, Williams wrote in an email. Williams hopes to obtain the name during the discovery process if the lawsuit proceeds, her email said.
