<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michael Zidell sued East West Bank and Cathay Bank in a California federal court on Tuesday, accusing the banks of turning \u201ca blind eye to their statutory duties and obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n
He claimed he sent 18 transfers totalling nearly $7 million to the alleged scammers\u2019 account<\/a> at East West Bank, and made 13 transfers totalling over $9.7 million to an account at Cathay Bank.<\/p>\n Zidell sued Citibank<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Cointelegraph contacted East West Bank and Cathay General Bancorp, the parent company of Cathay Bank, for comment.<\/p>\n Zidell claimed in his lawsuits against the banks that \u201cCarolyn Parker,\u201d a purported business owner, contacted him on Facebook in early 2023, and the pair formed a romantic relationship<\/a>.<\/p>\n Parker allegedly told Zidell a month into the relationship that she\u2019d made millions investing in non-fungible tokens, suggesting he do the same and directing him to a trading platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n He said by April 2023, the website for the platform \u201cwas suddenly gone,\u201d along with<\/a> his millions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRomance scam. Rug pull. Pig butchering. These are just some of the terms to describe the scam that befell the Plaintiffs.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Like his complaint against Citibank, Zidell\u2019s latest lawsuit seeks to hold East West Bank and Cathay Bank liable for negligence and as \u201caiders and abettors\u201d of securities fraud.<\/p>\n \u201cDefendants 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,\u201d the suit alleged.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>5 \u2018insidious\u2019 crypto scams to watch out for this year<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n It also argued the two banks had a \u201cduty to exercise due care in monitoring suspicious transactions,\u201d but \u201cfailed to detect clearly suspicious transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n Zidell said the \u201clarge, round numbers of funds, among other things, should have triggered the bank\u2019s investigation into the suspicious activity.\u201d<\/p>\n The complaint is also looking to hold East West Bank and Cathay Bank liable for \u201caiding and abetting elder abuse,\u201d an accusation he didn\u2019t make against Citibank.<\/p>\n Zidell doesn\u2019t mention his age in the complaint, but California law defines an elder<\/a> as those 65 years old and over.<\/p>\n His lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, legal costs and interest at a jury trial.<\/p>\nScam NFT investments made in Facebook romance<\/h2>\n
East West and Cathay allegedly aided fraud<\/h2>\n
Banks liable for elder abuse, suit alleges<\/h2>\n