The self-claimed victim of a crypto romance scam who recently sued Citibank for failing to catch red flags has just filed a second lawsuit targeting two other banks.Â
Michael Zidell sued East West Bank and Cathay Bank in a California federal court on Tuesday, accusing the banks of turning âa blind eye to their statutory duties and obligations.â
He claimed he sent 18 transfers totalling nearly $7 million to the alleged scammersâ account at East West Bank, and made 13 transfers totalling over $9.7 million to an account at Cathay Bank.
Zidell sued Citibank on June 24, accusing it of ignoring the red flags in 12 transfers totaling around $4 million to accounts at the bank allegedly held by scammers.
Cointelegraph contacted East West Bank and Cathay General Bancorp, the parent company of Cathay Bank, for comment.
Scam NFT investments made in Facebook romance
Zidell claimed in his lawsuits against the banks that âCarolyn Parker,â a purported business owner, contacted him on Facebook in early 2023, and the pair formed a romantic relationship.
Parker allegedly told Zidell a month into the relationship that sheâd made millions investing in non-fungible tokens, suggesting he do the same and directing him to a trading platform.Â
Zidell decided to invest and, over the next few months, said he sent 43 transfers totalling over $20 million to various bank accounts given to him by the platform, which claimed it needed to process the funds at multiple banks due to a large volume of customer deposits.
He said by April 2023, the website for the platform âwas suddenly gone,â along with his millions.Â
âRomance scam. Rug pull. Pig butchering. These are just some of the terms to describe the scam that befell the Plaintiffs.â
East West and Cathay allegedly aided fraud
Like his complaint against Citibank, Zidellâs latest lawsuit seeks to hold East West Bank and Cathay Bank liable for negligence and as âaiders and abettorsâ of securities fraud.
âDefendants through their recklessness, materially aided Parker and her co-conspirators by opening bank accounts, providing services including wire transfers and allowing them to be used to perpetrate the NFT Enterprise scam,â the suit alleged.
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It also argued the two banks had a âduty to exercise due care in monitoring suspicious transactions,â but âfailed to detect clearly suspicious transactions.â
Zidell said the âlarge, round numbers of funds, among other things, should have triggered the bankâs investigation into the suspicious activity.â
Banks liable for elder abuse, suit alleges
The complaint is also looking to hold East West Bank and Cathay Bank liable for âaiding and abetting elder abuse,â an accusation he didnât make against Citibank.
Zidell doesnât mention his age in the complaint, but California law defines an elder as those 65 years old and over.
His lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, legal costs and interest at a jury trial.
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