New Jersey Attorney Law Review Blog

A bank employee who misappropriates a customer's cash deposit can expose the bank to a claim under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, a NJ appeals court ruled in Lee v. First Union National Bank, et al. , App. Div., Case No.: 09-2-1547. In this case, the plaintiff, an existing customer of First Union National Bank, alleged she paid $2,000 in cash to a bank employee who worked in the bank's brokerage services unit which was supposed to be used to purchase shares of a mutual fund. Instead of depositing these funds into her brokerage account, the plaintiff claimed the bank's employee misappropriated her $2,000 cash tender for his own personal use which resulted in an overdraft in her checking account. The bank covered the shortfall by taking money from plaintiff's checking account and liquidating some of the mutual fund shares. Plaintiff's complaint alleged violation of the Consumer Fraud Act (CFA) and common-law conversion. The trial judge granted summary judgment in ...

Banks beware! In a case of first impression, a New Jersey appeals court held that a bank that pursues criminal charges against an innocent third party whose identify is stolen and used to defraud the bank can be sued civilly for negligence and malicious prosecution. In this particular case, Brunson v. Affinity Federal Credit Union , A-4439-06, the bank employed a fraud and loss prevention specialist (Mr. Wilcox) who happened to be a certified fraud examiner. According to the appellate record, an imposter posing as the plaintiff Brunson opened an Affinity account in Brunson's name using Brunson's social security number and an out-of-state driver's license bearing Brunson's date of birth and a Paterson, NJ address (misspelled with two "t's".) Within days of opening this account, the imposter successfully cashed $9,506 in phony checks drawn against a corporation known as Viva International Group. The bank's fraud and loss prevention specialist Wilcox wa...