Results tagged “bank”

Bank of America, which had posted a $3.2 billion profit last quarter, announced a $2.2 billion loss—$1 billion due to consumer defaults (CNN Money: "more and more Americans found themselves out of work and unable to keep up with their loan obligations") and paying the government and another $1.2 billion due to shareholder dividends. Departing CEO Ken Lewis said, "Obviously, credit costs remain high, and that is our major financial challenge going forward."

Former rookie NYC transit officer Christian Torres has pleaded guilty to twice robbing a Sovereign branch on the Lower East Side in 2007. The robberies netted $116,000 and were almost completely successful, thanks in part to his 20-year-old girlfriend Christina Dasrath, who worked as a teller at the bank. (She still claims Torres tricked her into helping him, and describes him as her first love.) Torres, 23, only got busted for those jobs when cops pulled him over after robbing $113,000 from a Sovereign branch in Pennsylvania last April. Dasrath is currently serving a two and a half year sentence, and Torres is doing a ten year bid in the Keystone State. While pleading guilty yesterday, Torres blamed the crime spree on the low salaries allotted rookie cops.

Just because a bank makes a mistake doesn't mean you get to benefit: A Long Island man was arrested for refusing to give up the $11,270 accidentally deposited into his Capital One account. Newsday reports that Carlos Morales' account was "mistakenly credited"—which really means "A bank teller had erroneously deposited these funds." Morales withdrew the money over a five-month period and Nassau County's Crimes Against Property Squad said even though Capitol One "contacted the defendant on numerous occasions asking the defendant to return the funds," Morales didn't respond. He is now charged with grand larceny. Also, if the ATM "accidentally" gives you more money than it should, report it and return it or you could faces charges.

Even though consumer banks seem to be opening on every block these days, a new study from the Pew Charitable Trust shows that a staggering 12% of New York households still don't have bank accounts, preferring to cash their checks and hide their savings in their houses. Many of those are low-income earners and the NY Times cites LES bodega owner, Jose Alberto Abreau, as an example: "When he makes 'good money,' he said, he asks friends to take it to his family in the Dominican Republic." Additionally, he has repeatedly refused offers from credit union workers trying to convince him to build a credit history. Not surprisingly, the volatile economy hasn't helped banks earn anyone's trust. Peter Mosbacher of Amalgamated Bank admitted that they "are having that challenge to get people to understand that the American banking system is stable." Maybe the skeptics are on to something, though, because how is anyone supposed to trust banks when they take years to catch NYU scammers?

You know that ATM scam where four friends from NYU were busted for repeatedly claiming their ATM cards were stolen when they were actually taking in $422,000? Well, the Post reports that it went on for so long (between 2003 and 2008) "because bank officials thought it was easier to just pay up, according to one of the investigators who helped break the case." Former NYPD detective Harry Houck Jr. says that he questioned one of the suspects, John Tluczek, who claimed his ATM card was stolen and account looted—Tluczek's excuse: "I was planning to go on vacation, and I had a piece of paper in my car that had all my PINs written down. I just left it in my car." Houck was suspicious and found out that Tluczek wasn't even on vacation! "But Houck said that when he called other banks to ask them about Tluczek, they had also heard of him, but decided to just pay him off rather than fight. The banks paid because Tluczek and his cohorts were taking advantage of a part of federal banking law that allows people to get money back within 10 days if their ATM cards are stolen and used to make withdrawals." Investigators think Tluczek and his cohorts' haul could tally up to $1 million.

In what Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes describes as "really a beaut of a scam," four friends from the NYU finance school are accused of ripping off Brooklyn banks for $422,000. Exploiting a regulation that requires banks to repay customers who claimed their ATM cards were lost or stolen within 10 days, the four allegedly made large withdraws from their accounts repeatedly over five years, then claimed that their cards had been stolen. "The scheme was as simple as it was brazen," Hynes told reporters today. The defendants were allegedly captured by video cameras when taking the money out, but they almost always wore motorcycle helmets or other covering to hide their identities. The accused are lawyer Eric Manganelli, 36; financial consultant Lam Dang, 37; bank employee John Tluczek, 37; and his wife, Marzena Tluczek, 35. They face multiple counts of grand larceny, falsifying business records and other charges, and each faces 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison for the top counts. The scheme was finally discovered after one bank investigator called another bank and they began comparing notes.

Easygoing banks like TD Bank try to cultivate a customer-friendly atmosphere by cheerfully greeting customers, handing out lollipops, and making sure there's no oppressive bulletproof glass harshing the vibe. But now the City Council, acting like a bunch of squares telling the hippies to put their clothes on, is considering a law to force banks to use the "bandit barriers." At a Public Safety Committee hearing yesterday, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly testified in support of the legislation, arguing that 47% of robberies in NYC in 2008 occurred at banks with bandit barriers, while 53% went down at banks without them. (The NYPD says there were 444 bank robbery attempts in 2008 — both failed and successful — up 57 percent from 2007.) But Gregory Braca, TD Bank’s president of operations, begged the Council to drop the bill, citing "evidence that if we had to install barriers, it could increase the risk of hostage-taking and injury to our customers." One TD Bank customer explained the appeal to the Times: "With that glass, you feel like you're in a government office, where the lady just talks to you through the little window." (And never offers you a lolly.)

A retired NYPD sergeant with no prior criminal record was arrested yesterday just minutes after robbing a Long Island bank. Thomas Feeney, 47, who retired 12 years ago because of knee injures and a heart condition, allegedly walked into a Huntington Station bank Tuesday morning and passed the teller a note demanding cash and calling attention to the loaded .38-caliber pistol tucked in his waistband. He walked out with an undisclosed sum, but one brave bank employee trailed him to his SUV and phoned in his license plate to police, who pulled him over just a couple miles away. Besides the gun and the cash, cops found a badge noting he was a retired NYPD officer in his pocket (but arrested him anyway!). Sgt. Robert Doyle of the Major Case Investigations Unit tells Newsday, "He said he'd been out so long that he doesn't get much money in disability anymore." Apparently, Feeney's got credit card debt in the five figure range, and Doyle tells the Post the bank job "appears to be economically motivated." But let's not rule out thirst for adventure as a motive, either.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Regulators have told Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. that the banks may need to raise more capital based on early results of the government's so-called stress tests of lenders, according to people familiar with the situation." The extra capital would be a "buffer" in case the banks' losses continue to grow. Apparently both banks are trying to develop arguments disputing the findings (for instance, BoA's shortfall is in the billions). The AP points out that, for the Treasury, "the easiest way to bolster bank balance sheets is to convert the government's existing stake from preferred shares — a form of debt — into common shares that carry voting rights." Last week, the federal government said capital needs weren't necessariy a measure of "current solvency or viability of the firm," but worries, coupled with swine flu concerns, have sent stock futures down.

Stories of thieves setting up devices to "skim" bank customer data from ATM machines have been around for a while, which is all the more reason to be alert. A Gizmodo reader found himself face-to-face with one skimming set up at his Chase branch in the East Village.

After a memo from Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit saying that the company was profitable in 2009 (thus far), the bank's stock is up 27% to...$1.34! But that news is enough to help other bank stocks rally and the Dow is up by about 250 points. Pandit said of Citigroup, which did receive $45 billion in TARP bailout money, "We are profitable through the first two months of 2009 and are having our best quarter-to-date performance since the third quarter of 2007." But he did add he was disappointed in the company's low stock price. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal reports, "U.S. officials are examining what fresh steps they might need to take to stabilize the [Citigroup] if its problems mount."

The United State government has agreed to increase its stake in embattled Citigroup from 8% to 36%. The NY Times explains, "Under the deal, Citibank said that it would offer to exchange common stock for up to $27.5 billion of its existing preferred securities and trust preferred securities at a conversion price of $3.25 a share, a 32 percent premium over Thursday’s closing price. The government will match this exchange up to a maximum of $25 billion of its preferred stock at the same price. In its statement, the Treasury Department said the dollar-for-dollar match was intended to strengthen Citigroup’s capital base." Still, Citi's shares plunged—Canaccord Adams managing director of U.S. equity trading David Rovelli told Bloomberg TV, "It’s just unbelievable. The government is making up the rules as they go. A continued breakup is probably in the cards." And former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt added, “This is another step toward creeping nationalization." Currently, the Dow is close to 7,000 points.

The police are looking for four people involved in a scam they operate in bank ATM alcoves. The AP explains the scheme:

After the target puts his or her bank card into an ATM, a woman approaches and says that machine isn't working. While the victim uses a nearby machine, a second suspect watches and notes the victim's personal code.

Continue reading "Beware the "ATM Not Working" Scam"

The $350 billion second half of the federal government bank bailout—aka TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program)—funding was released by the Senate. According to the Wall Street Jounral, President-elect Barack Obama intends to "spend $50 billion to $100 billion on a 'sweeping' foreclosure-prevention effort" as well as "impose tougher restrictions on banks that receive government aid, including requirements on banks to lend money, increased restrictions on executive compensation and curtailed dividend payments for some firms."

With the city in the midst of a bank robbery renaissance, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly yesterday implored bank officials to increase security. According to Newsday, bank robberies were up 57 percent in NYC last year, to 444 from 283 in 2007. More branches like TD Bank (formerly Commerce) have adopted "friendly," open interior designs in recent years, and Kelly says that's part of the problem; he wants banks to go back to using bullet-resistant glass, or "bandit barriers." Some police officials believe another factor in the crime wave to be the cratering economy, which may be contributing to a rise in bank robberies nationwide—the number of bank jobs rose 6.4 percent in the first six months of 2008. But Gotham clearly deserves a better class of criminal.

Yikes: Thieves who targeted a Sovereign Bank on Staten Island's South Shore stole over $100,000 from customers' accounts. The Staten Island Advance reports that one victim, Tom Cosgrove, "went online to pay his bills yesterday morning," only to find "his bank account was $1,603 lighter." Apparently the thieves were skimming: They set up scanning device on the ATM's bank card reader, as well as a camera to tape customers entering their PIN numbers. Cosgrove, whose friend had $4500 wiped out from his account, said he got to the bank at 8:45 a.m. and there were other victims waiting: "It's the holiday season and people need money." Sovereign told the Advance the incident appeared isolated and that it would reimburse victims after receiving a claim, "The bank is aware of the inconvenience this fraud may cause during this holiday week and is working diligently to assist its customers."

This summer Roc-a-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash received a warning from his bank after having not made a payment on his $78,504.20-a-month mortgage since January. Now the Daily News is reporting that the bank wants his two Tribeca condos, which under the same mortgage and located at 25 N. Moore Street and 79 Laight Street. On top of losing the homes, the city is seizing his SUV and "his lawyer dropped him for not paying his legal bills." Yikes, what happened to the $20 million he got for selling his half of Roc-a-Fella to Jay-Z? He also has an outstanding $2.1 million bill from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. A lawyer who settled another suit against him and his wife for unpaid fees told the paper, "to borrow a phrase from my Kentucky homeland, they haven't got a pot to piss in - they're broke."

Credit card company American Express was approved to be a bank holding company, allowing it to access government funds, yesterday. The Federal Reserver released a statement saying it waived the usual 30-day waiting period due to "the unusual and exigent circumstances affecting the financial markets." AmEx said it's taking almost twice as long for credit-card holders to repay loans--D.A. Davidson & Co.'s chief market strategist Frederic Dickson told Bloomberg News, "That business has totally dried up. If I were a shareholder, it wouldn't send a very warm and fuzzy message to me." AmEx, which recently announced it would cut 10% of its workforce (equaling about 7,000 jobs), joins Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as companies who recently became bank holding companies.

Three people were shot in Harlem last night around 10:00 p.m. outside the subway station at 145th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. An NYPD spokesperson tells WABC that two women and a man were wounded; the women suffered graze wounds and the male victim—who is believed to be the intended target—was shot in the leg. Apparently, the two women did not know the man and were caught in the crossfire.

The FBI is investigating numerous threatening letters "many...containing an indentified powder" sent to Chase bank branches around the country. The locations include, per the AP, "in or near Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Denver, Newark, N.J., New York City, Oklahoma City and Washington." The letters, which started to arrive on Monday, are being tested (so far, field tests have found the powder to be harmless). One letter implied the letter's opener would die, but no Chase employees have been injured. An FBI spokesperson said, "Even sending a hoax letter is a serious crime."

Today, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo held a press conference on Wall Street, announcing his investigation of AIG's expenditures since 2007. You can read the letter he sent them here (PDF), but he does call their spending "unwarranted and outrageous" and asks the Board of Directors "to cease and desist any such further expenditures, and review, rescind, and recover all past unreasonable expenditures."

Goldman Sachs applied for a NY State Bank Charter yesterday, in a move to becoming a full-service bank. The NY Times points out, "The announcement does not mean a move for Goldman Sachs, which has been based in New York City since its founding in 1869. But it does provide glimpses of Goldman’s roadmap as it transforms itself into a commercial bank."

After claiming it should still be allowed to purchase--with the help of the government-- Wachovia for $2 billion, Citigroup is now allowing Wells Fargo buy Wachovia for $15 billion. Wachovia issued a statement saying, "We're pleased Citigroup has abandoned its efforts to interfere with Wachovia's planned merger with Wells Fargo. We look forward to completing our merger with Wells Fargo, which we have always believed is in the best interest of shareholders, employees, creditors and retirees as well as the American taxpayers, and it imposes no risk to the FDIC fund." Of course, Citigroup is still suing for $60 billion in breach of contract damages!

As speculated earlier this morning, U.K-based Barclays has reached an agreement to acquire a large chunk of Lehman Brothers' U.S. operations, which, according to the Financial Times, "perform securities underwriting tasks, provide merger advice to lucrative clients, and conduct trading." Though the cost of the deal is unclear, it's expected to quickly boost Barclays' U.S. presence by enabling the bank to assemble a pre-existing American investment banking business. As for the tainted Lehman Brothers assets, the Journal notes that Barclays could potentially could leave behind Lehman's troubled assets "at the parent level." Shares in Barclays fell 12% in afternoon London trading today, which is consistent with other nosediving UK financial stocks.

The Brooklyn resident whose name caused him $2.1 million of trouble is still being held at Rikers, but a judge lowered his bail from $1 million to $10,000.

A little follow-up to the story about the 80-year-old woman who was robbed of tens of thousands of dollars from her Lower East Side apartment. Earlier this month, Connie Nieves had let in two men posing as flower deliverymen (note to self: Delivery men rarely work in pairs when they only have one dozen roses), who then tied her up and ransacked her apartment of the cash. Nieves said, "How can I not open the...