Posted on 07/07/2011 12:17:33 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
AUBURN, Wash. - Buying his own home was a big accomplishment for construction worker, Ikenna Njoku, of Auburn. He’s only 28 years old. “I was really excited. For the first time, I actually got to buy a lawn mower, mow my lawn and everything,” said Njoku.
Njoku qualified for the first time home buyer rebate on his tax return.
"It was really important, I had a vehicle I was looking on paying off," said. Njoku. And it wasn’t just any vehicle. “It was a 2001 Infinity I-30, silver…just like my favorite car, “he said.
Njoku signed up to have the rebate deposited directly into his Chase Bank account. But when the IRS rebate arrived, there was a problem. Chase had closed Njoku’s account because of overdrawn checks in the past. The bank deducted $600 to cover what he owed them and mailed him a cashier’s check for the difference--$8,463.21.
But when Njoku showed up at the Chase branch near his house intending to cash the check, he was in for a nasty surprise.
The check had Njoku’s name and address on it and was issued by JP Morgan Chase. But the Chase Customer Banker who handles large checks at the Auburn branch was immediately suspicious.
“I was embarrassed,” Njoku said. “She asked me what I did for a living. Asked me where I got the check from, looked me up and down—like ‘you just bought a house in Auburn, really?’ She didn’t believe that,” he said.
The Customer Banker said the check looked fake, so she took it, along with Njoku’s driver license and credit card, and called Bank Support.
After waiting for about 15 minutes, Njoku said he got impatient and told Chase he was leaving to do an important errand. By the time he got back, the bank was closed. Njoku said he called customer service and asked them what he should do. He says they told him to go back to the bank the next day to get his money.
But when Njoku arrived, it wasn’t the money that was waiting for him.
“They just threw me in jail; they called the police and said this guy has a fraudulent check,” Njoku said.
Auburn police arrested him for forgery - a felony crime.
“I was like - you’re making a mistake, you’re making a mistake, don’t take me to jail, I got work tomorrow. I can’t afford to miss work,” he said.
Njoku was taken to jail on June 24, 2010, which was a Thursday. The next day, Chase Special Investigations, realized it was a mistake. The check was legitimate. The Investigator called Auburn Police and left a message with the detective handling the case, but it was her day off. So Njoku stayed in jail for the entire weekend. Finally, on Monday, he was released.
Auburn Police Commander Dave Colglazier said Chase could have done a lot more to let them know they’d locked up an innocent man.
“We do have a main line that comes into our front office,” he said. “There are ways to reach someone 24/7 at a police department.”
For Njoku, going to jail for five days meant a lot more than just losing his freedom. He said the entire time he was “just stressed out…trying to figure out what was going on with my vehicle. I love my vehicle,” he said.
Njoku’s car had been towed from the bank parking lot and his check seized as evidence.
“I had to wait a couple of weeks,” he said, “and my car got sold, auctioned off."
Njoku says he didn’t have the money to pay the impound fees and fines to get his car back before it was sold. He said he also lost his job because he didn’t show up for work while he was in jail.
After all of that, Njoku said he never heard a word from Chase.
“They haven’t even sent me a letter or apologized,” he said. “It’s been a year we’ve been trying to contact these guys.”
Finally, A Seattle attorney offered to help. Last week, Felix Luna sent Chase a scathing letter. Read the attorneys' letter to Chase
“It’s one thing to make a mistake,” Luna said. “It’s one thing to make multiple errors of judgment like Chase has made and then, once you realize that your error has caused such harm to somebody else, to just ignore it for a year. I think he deserved better. I think all their customers do.”
Like Njoku, KING 5 had a difficult time getting answers from Chase. A week after first contacting them, they sent a two line e-mail.
"We received the letter and are reviewing the situation. We'll be reaching out to the customer," wrote Darcy Donoahoe-Wilmot, from Chase Media Relations.
Njoku said that even after he got out of jail, he said was confused and upset. "For a month, two months, I was just down and depressed," he said.
He’s still happy he bought his house, but sad that his experience with his own bank was so humiliating.
“They treated me like a criminal,” he said.
Yup.
Are you serious?!?!?
Are you seriously this stupid?!?!?
These bankers and the police had a man jailed for 5 days, he lost his job and his car and all over a check that WAS NOT FRAUDULENT or FAKE...
Drug money?!?!
WTF-—Over!??!??!
Myself....
I would also play the race card if I was this guy (seriously).
I hope he gets a civil rights lawsuit out of it. His last name is the winning color.
“This banker was doing a commendable job.”
The banker did a hideous job of doing their job.
[ Every one on this forum understands that bankers are federal government snoops right? This is a great overview:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Secrecy_Act#Suspicious_Activity_Report_.28SAR.29
This banker was doing a commendable job.
More and more industries and occupations now have have required government snooping and reporting requirements. But I am sure many on this forum subscribe to the “if you didn’t do anything wrong you don’t have to worry” philosophy.
This could have been drug money right? It could have helped save someone from addiction and crime. ]
Holding too much cash on you can be considered a “crime”, so if you happen to have several ounces of Gold on you, you are a defacto criminal!
Lets see, 28 years old, $9000.00 + IRS refund?
I definitely have to change my tax preparer.
Hell for half my life 9000 was considered a decent wage and this construction worker in the state of Washington is getting that much in a refund????
I am going along with the “Nigerian Internet People” angle on this story.
Has the IRS weighed in saying this is/was a true story?
My cynicism really is kicking in on this entire story.
Also, I can’t really see someone leaving an $8300 check, his credit card AND drivers license at the bank then leaving (apparently) just before closing time.
Something very fishy here.....
[ Banks work hard to get you to bounce checks. They cover them for a $25 to $50 charge. It’s just about the most profitable line of business in a bank. One ATM withdraw which will give you the money you asked for even if it’s not there, will domino into a $500 bill in a hurry if you forgot an autodraft for your car insurance payment hits your account. The banks will even putt an autodraft into limbo if it gives them the contractual opportunity to structure your debits to hit your account in just the right order to maximize their fees. They have a computer software program to do just that. ]
Yup! If you have the following transactions to be processed in one day:
Starting Balance - $300.00
withdraw 50.00 - 10:00AM
withdraw 120.00 - 11:30AM
deposit 1,200.00 - 1:00PM
withdraw 500.00 - 4:00PM
withdraw 5.00 - 6:00pm
The will process them in this order:
Balance 300.00
withdraw - 500.00
Balance (-200)
fee - 25.00
Balance (-200)
withdraw - 5.00
Balance (-205)
fee - 25.00
Balance (-205)
withdraw - 50.00
Balance (-255)
fee - 25.00
Balance (-255)
withdraw - 120.00
Balance (-375)
fee - 25.00
Total:
Balance (-375)
deposit 1,200.00
Balance (+825)
Minus Fees (100)
Ending Balance $725.00
If your bank does this, time to find another bank.
They should do the processing in chronological order, but some have software that is TUNED for maximum fees.
It is immoral and it is wrong, and they say the financial system is “solid” a lot of banks will happily scam people who failed basic economics class in high school.
Someone once asked me once why I have “Checking plus” which is a line of credit that only charges a minor daily interest rate for any over drafts. Well I would rather pay $1.25 in interest for three days on 100 bucks of overdraft than $300.00 in fees because I had an emergency because I got their “free checking” which doesn’t have an over draft account.
Scary story. A cascade of incompetence, beginning and ending with the bank and an idiot teller. Like most Freepers, had this horror happened to me, I would have been hopping mad but instead of ranting would have immediately went to a barracuda-type attorneys office and demanded they help me sue Chase. Sue the police department, maybe, but they thought they had sufficient reason to hold the man, although they didn’t try very hard to learn the facts. Anyway, Chase bank is the real culprit here. I suspect some racial profiling was involved. Plus, as a construction worker, if the victim was dressed in his work clothes he probably didn’t look prosperous enough to have an $8,000-something check. Not that it should have mattered. Of course, in this situation, most people would have asked to see the manager and not left the bank until it was cleared up and they had their money. Still, he was treated badly and illegally. Chase sucks. I hope this fellow sues and collects, big. He deserves it.
First time home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 plus a few more hundred in regular tax refund. It's legit.
Right, de facto criminal! If you read the Wiki entry (and I am sure y’all did that before the flaming)you will see that the bankster may have been a little over zealous but he was doing his job. Just following orders.
These laws are designed to prevent fraudulent transfers of money aka “money laundering” without which the trade in illegal drugs would grind to a halt.
Anything to halt illegal drugs...right? It’s for the children, even the ones who don’t understand irony or understand sarcasm when they see it in a post.
I’d play the “sodomized in jail” card too! lol
The sad truth is that Chase Bank knew that any check issued by Chase Bank would undoubtly bounce.
But as Chase Bank knew, there would be no consequences for them if they simply confiscated the customers check and had him tossed in jail.
Did you know that our American banking industry is to big to fail btw?
[ Right, de facto criminal! If you read the Wiki entry (and I am sure y’all did that before the flaming)you will see that the bankster may have been a little over zealous but he was doing his job. Just following orders.
These laws are designed to prevent fraudulent transfers of money aka “money laundering” without which the trade in illegal drugs would grind to a halt.
Anything to halt illegal drugs...right? It’s for the children, even the ones who don’t understand irony or understand sarcasm when they see it in a post. ]
Those laws are only there to stop the “small fry” drug runners. The big guys out there that run drugs use sophisticated means like electronic transfers, pay pal, multiple web “donation’ sites, loadable anonymous credit cards, etc... etc....
So if you manage you finances like someone from the 1950’s you are a criminal by definition.
I think your scam detector is broken.
First time home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
OH, they actually GIVE them the 8 grand?
I thought it was a credit, not a refund - much the same as you get a ‘mileage credit’ to be used to work off of your Gross.
No wonder we are broke - ‘giving’ money away rather than extend a credit ... I guess I am going to have to start paying attention.
That should really keep my BP in the high range....
A tax credit is different from a tax deduction. The first comes off the amount you owe, the second comes off the amount you earned.
Man, that post of yours hurt. Absolutely G-damned right.
Without a shadow of doubt Chase is the worst bank I have ever dealt with and I fail to understand why anyone would continue to keep an account with them.
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