Hat tip to Yves Smith on this one. This is just awful. Chase customer Ikenna Njoku went to his local Chase branch to cash a cashier's check issued by Chase themselves, and he wound up in jail, lost his job, and had his car sold out from under him. But it was all a mistake. Chase really screwed the pooch on this one. Check it out:
How bad would you freak out if this happened to you?
Ouch! Thanks for sharing. I can understand why the bank would be hesitant to cash his check as he had previously overdrawn his account, but when they decided to turn him over to the authorities, they should have done their homework first. Anyone who's worked in retial knows that if you catch a shoplifter, don't take it into your own hands, and usually it is better to just let them go, because when the cops get involved it creates a scene which is bad for PR.
I think think chase should buy this guy a new car.
So stupid. The cashiers check was issued by Chase. How hard is it to pick up the phone and call corporate to find out if the check is legit? Two minute process.
Interesting how we're in 2011 and this BS is still going on. -__-
Well i use to work at Chase and i will tell you that what really happened is that woman judge the crap out of him and felt like he couldn't possibly have a check that big. There is no policy in place to act in that fashion and in reality, she should of just check to see is that check was legit. She probably called back office and they were the wrong department and told her we don't see that check number on our system and the banker then decided to get her abm a bonus for catching a fraud check. Don't get me wrong, they are a lot of people who come in with fake checks all the time and take advantage of Chase's one day to clear policy but the way that banker acted is inexcusable and sad to say she will probably only get a verbal warning because policy and procedure actually tell bankers to go with their feelings when it comes to issues like this.
The cashier obviously targeted him because he is NIGERIAN. A lot have banks have grown suspicious of Nigerians since many of the scam/fraud perpetrators tend to be Nigerian. It sucks but that's life.
no not really. It had nothing to do with been NIGERIAN. More along the line that he is black and didn't look the part of someone who typically cashes checks of that level. Im sure she didn't ask what nationality he is and then became prejudice. Also no bank has such policies in place in any shape or form so i don't know where you came up with that little gem.......
The lady was blatantly being a racist shit. I'm in upstate NY for school and I experience dumb shit like this all the time, albeit on a lesser scale. Cops can't believe I own my car (think BMW or Merc), even though that's what happens when you get a real job and not become a cop at 20.
This is common racial profiling at it best.
This is one of those times where punitive damages seem entirely justified.
This dude is sitting on a goldmine of a settlement here, he just needs a good lawyer
I hope he gets millions
Oddly enough, the teller's name was Jim Crow.
We don't know the whole story. Maybe he offered the cashier 20% for helping him to facilitate transfer from his relative's trust fund in Nigeria?
Things story screams incomplete. I mean there are holes all over the story that don't make sense. The biggest lolwut? of the tale is the fact only a pro-bono lawyer was willing to pick up this case. If there was a legitimate chance at a nice payout because of this, a high price attorney wouldn't say no because the client didn't have up front cash.
JV retail banking at its finest.
"Not just any car... It was a silver 2001 infinity!"
Hey now, he's a 28 year old construction worker. A pimped out Maxima and his own mortgage isn't bad at all.
Granted, he should have had his finances in order enough that five days of disappearance didn't get his shit repoed.... but that's not the point.
His bank account was closed for bouncing checks. Good for him he was able to keep the house
The hidden facts of this story: Chase is not a real bank like JP Morgan so mistakes are inevitable. While he was in jail BoA went ahead and foreclosed his house as well. Also, should women be banned from the teller profession?
No way dude. Much more pleasant to have women giving me my money.
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