Bank of America sends Matthew Shinnick to jail

Posted by Tracy Coenen on October 1, 2006 · 2 Comments 

Is this a fraud committed against an innocent citizen, or what?

Clark Howard highlighted this story on his website. Matthew Shinnick went to Bank of America to verify the validity of a check he received for someone who bought two bikes from him through CraigsList. The bank said that the account the check was drawn upon was valid, so Matthew cashed the check.

BoA employees then called the police to arrest Shinnick, because the check was actually a fraudulent check drawn on a legitimate account number. Matthew had no idea that his buyer presented him with a bad check, which is why he went into the bank to inquire about the check in the first place. He ended up spending the night in jail, and had to spend $14,000 in legal fees to clear his name.

Matthew asked BoA to cover his legal fees because this situation occured due to their error. The bank refused to pay the legal fees, and now Clark Howard is urging customers to close their BoA accounts, since the bank clearly does not care about its customers.

Clark Howard talked to bank officials, and they still refused to pay the legal bill. Clark even offered to pay $7,000 of the fees if the bank would also pay $7,000. They refused the offer.

Clark’s listeners have reported withdrawing $20 million from their Bank of America accounts so far.


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Comments

2 Responses to “Bank of America sends Matthew Shinnick to jail”
  1. Holly Schwendiman says:
    17 October 2006 at 4:09 pm

    I just had another friend inform me of a “common sense lost” situation this morning and it makes me sad. His sad experience was watching his grandson’s life be ruined by doing the responsible thing. It makes me sad to know that we’ve lost touch with reality in today’s world. We don’t care if kids learn in school, just that they’re ready for a standardized test. We don’t care if punishment fits the crime, just that punishment is rendered. We don’t even want to listen anymore.

    Hugs,
    Holly
    Holly’s Corner

    Here via the Carnival of Family Fun ;o)

  2. Kailani says:
    17 October 2006 at 6:24 pm

    I can’t believe that BofA would be so unfair. It was their mistake afterall. I guess if it could happen to Matthew, it could happen to anyone. I’m glad I don’t have an account there!

    Here via Carnival of Family Life.

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