Citibank Must Pay Back Millions To Stroke Victim After Ignoring Fraud Charges

A NYC judge ordered Citibank to give Leileth Faye Graham, an 80-year-old woman, almost $3.5 million.

Citibank will have to pay a stroke victim millions after no taking the proper streps to recovering the fraudulent charges made to her account.

A Queens Supreme Court Justice Bernice Siegal ordered Citibank to give Leileth Faye Graham, an 80-year-old woman from the New York borough, almost $3.5 million in the groundbreaking decision made Dec. 19.

Judge Siegel also found the bank liable for “concealing critical evidence” throughout the court case. The bank refused to refund the hundreds of thousands stolen from Graham’s account, hiding evidence that proved the fraud.

Approximately $135,000 of the stolen amount, which totaling to $772,000, came from 211 withdrawals in Massachusetts. According to The New York Post, Graham’s niece, Joan Hope Bowden, allegedly made the withdrawals as her aunt laid bedridden and blind states away.

Another $638,000 was snatched from Graham through wire transfers. Although the withdrawals showed clear signs of fraudulent activity, Citibank allowed the fake transactions to continue. Bowden reportedly used the money to fund vacations to Jamaica, buy property in Washington, D.C., for her daughter, and give money away to other family members.

Citibank must now return the money, and add for a couple million, “for failure to investigate or to return the funds removed from [her] account without consent or authority.”

“Had Citibank properly followed its own security procedures on the Citibank accounts following the ATM withdrawals, the account would have been flagged, thereby preventing the subsequent wire transfers,” detailed the court in its decision.

However, Citibank has denied any wrongdoing in the matter and has appealed the court ruling. Despite this, Graham’s family hopes to receive at least some of the court-ordered damages, claiming all of it will go to their elder’s care.

“My hope is that something will come through, so that she gets to enjoy something out of it before she passes away,” said Graham’s other niece, Ingrid Gayle, who assists in her caretaking.

Born in Jamaica in the 1970s, Graham emigrated to the U.S. to complete her education. She earned her degree in business administration from Manhattan College in 1984, followed by her bachelor’s degree from Pace College eight years later. During her professional career, she once worked as a legal secretary for a firm that had Citibank as a client.

In 2020, however, her health took a turn when she suffered from a stroke. After finding her living and health conditions in a dire state, Gayle began to oversee her care.

Now, Gayle hopes for justice on behalf of her elderly aunt. However, the case may also be monumental as it sets a precedent that banks are liable for unauthorized transactions, not the customer. In the meantime, the family hopes that Citibank will refund this money to Graham, who currently uses Medicaid to cover her expenses.

Gayle added, “Because that would really be sad, that we fight for her to get back her money, and that she doesn’t even get to enjoy a thousand of it.”