A Chase Bank branch in Auburn, WA was responsible for the illegal arrest of Ikenna Njoku. Mr. Njoku received a tax refund that was deposited into his account at Chase Bank. The bank took out fees they were owed on the account, about $600.00, and mailed Mr. Njoku a Chase Bank cashier's check for the balance of $8,463.00. Mr. Njoku took his Chase Bank issued check to a branch of Chase and tried to cash the check.
Njoku was asked to give two forms of identification and was asked questions about his employment, and how he received the check. The Chase Bank teller first asked Mr. Njoku to return in a half hour so that she could research the check. Mr. Njoku ran some errands and returned to the bank. He was then told that the check could not be cashed that day, but he would have to come back the next day to receive the funds.
When Njoku returned the following day to complete the translation, Chase claimed the check was a forgery. The bank would not honor the check. Chase also called the police and had Mr. Njoku arrested for forgery. Mr. Njoku was arrested and taken to jail.
Mr. Njoku spent four nights in jail before the error was realized and he was released. Chase Bank conveniently claims that they notified the police once they realized the mistake, but that the detective was off duty and the message wasn't heard until days later.
Despite admitting the mistake, Chase Bank did not pay Njoku his funds for over a month. Refusing to release the funds or issue a new cashier's check, Chase would not pay Mr. Njoku until it was given the original check after it was released to Mr. Njoku by police.
Mr. Njoku's car was towed from the bank parking lot during his four nights in jail. Since he could not pay off impound costs (with Chase Bank holding his funds) the car was auctioned by the impound yard. Without a car, Njoku also lost his construction job.
Mr. Njoku did not hear from Chase Bank until over a year later, after many efforts to bring the matter to the bank's attention. Finally a Chase lawyer looked into the matter and the company issued a public apology. Chase Bank has also changed some of their procedures to hopefully make sure that this kind of error is not repeated.
The really sad part of this story is that Chase should have been able to authenticate one of their own checks immediately. This matter went through several layers of customer service and management at the bank. At every stage the bank determined the check to be a forgery, and they went so far with this error that an innocent man was jailed for no reason. It is doubtful that the people at the bank wanted to cause Mr. Njoku any harm, or bring unwanted attention on themselves. What the people did show was an indifference to Mr. Njoku and to their own responsibilities. That indifference deprived a citizen of his liberty. Of course, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co has its own problems, so maybe these issues exist throughout the organization, from the top down.
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