Annandale man wins fraud case against a bank

Richard Bennett, an 81-year-old Annandale resident who was scammed out of $1.5 million, had to sue Old Dominion National Bank to get his money back.

A jury at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in his favor on May 31.

His attorney, Blake Weiner, charged the bank had transferred money to a fraudster without valid authorization, then refused to refund the money. A suspect hasn’t been identified in the case.

Weiner, a former assistant U.S. attorney at the Department of Justice, said Bennett created a personal account at the Tysons branch of Old Dominion to collect interest on nearly $2.5 million from the sale of his government contracting business. His company, Advanced Systems Development, focused on security issues.

When Bennett saw a bank statement that showed $1.5 million had been transferred from his account without his knowledge, he notified the bank. “The bank closed the account and said sorry, and that was it,” Weiner said.

The bank’s position was that “basically, we’re not responsible because the client should have done a better job of protecting their account,” he said.

A scammer had gained access to Bennett’s email and sent a message to a Dominion vice president asking for information on how to enroll in online banking. After setting up the account, the same scammer requested a change in the account’s phone number.

The bank simply sent the fraudster a form to sign. The bank approved the form after concluding the signature looked similar to Bennett’s signature.

Bennett had no idea who the scammers were or how they accessed his email. He reported the fraud to the FBI and police.

Weiner argued the bank knew the account was not authorized to send wire transfers and didn’t have a wire transfer service agreement. Even if there were such an agreement, outgoing transfers couldn’t exceed $100,001.

Nevertheless, the bank authorized five separate wire transfers totaling $1.5 million. They approved three wire transfers to a phony wealth management account in Florida with an address that turned out to be a residence. The bank also authorized two online banking transfers to Merrill China with an address in New York and a phone number with a Florida area code.

Weiner determined the wire transfers went to a bank account owned by Danny Smith, who claimed the funds were transferred to his account by someone he doesn’t know. During the trial, Smith testified that he was in an online romantic online relationship with a Patricia Ramos who asked him to access the bank account, convert the money to crypto, and transfer it to her.

Weiner said when he approached the bank, “They threatened to ask the court to sanction me if I don’t drop the case. They argued my claim was frivolous.”

“The bank was simply hoping they could bully my client because they didn’t want to pay,” he said.

Following the judgment, the bank has yet to refund Bennett’s money. Weiner intends to file a motion for attorney fees and court costs. If the bank doesn’t pay, he will seek to have the funds garnished. “It remains to be seen what the bank will do.”

“This verdict not only brings justice to our client but also sends a powerful message about the accountability of banks and financial institutions,” Weiner said. “It reaffirms the principle that banks and financial entities must operate within the bounds of the law and honor their commitments to their clients.”