CHARLOTTE — Misael Rosario built a business processing metal. “I founded this company 38 years ago with $10,000,” he said.
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That dollar figure grew over the years. And then this. He says 15 fraudulent wire transfers over a three-day period, around $6.5 million wiped from his account.
“We were totally in shock by the situation,” he said. “A lot of that money was basically going to my grandkids and our future. I mean, eventually, I’m 68 years old. I got to retire eventually.”
Rosario says law enforcement helped him recover some of the money, but that he’s still out more than $4 million. He’s suing his bank, First Horizon.
“This exact same scheme was perpetrated on another First Horizon Bank customer just two months earlier,” Rosario’s attorney, Victor Velarde, said.
In that case, a law firm alleges someone took more than $17 million from their trust account in January ... and that more than $6 million is still missing. In both cases, Velarde says, scammers called First Horizon claiming to be the account holder, claiming they got a new phone number, and asked for a passcode to access the account. He says the scammers were able to verify their identity with information that was publicly available. The plaintiffs claim at least some of the money went to an account linked to the same Chinese company.
“Nothing changed. First Horizon fell to the same trick to the same recipients,” Velarde said.
The bank emailed our sister station and their radio partner in Orlando, “We have filed a motion for partial dismissal, which is attached. Although I can’t provide any additional information at this time, we intend to vigorously defend the case.”
In that motion, First Horizon is asking the court to throw out the claim the bank breached the contract with the client. They want mention of similar cases removed as well. And they contend this case should be argued using state law on wire transfers only. State law requires banks to implement commercially reasonable security procedures.
Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke says:
- Keep a close eye on your bank accounts.
- If you notice anything amiss... jump on it right away. And do so in writing.
- If someone ‘does’ steal your identity, report it to the FBI’s IC3 website. Make sure you use the right one. The head of the FBI in North Carolina recently told Stoogenke they’ve been dealing with IC3 imposters.