Yeah, if they just let him have a checking account, that would not be much. They are supposed to ‘know their customer’, but if nobody knows he’s a crook, how are they supposed to?
Exactly. This guy was a big deal. He took a lot of that stolen money and donated it to very influential people (as do all successful con artists). He was well known in the community. That makes it “the clueless guy who says his neighbor was a really good guy who would NEVER do anything wrong” x 100!