Fidelity Investments, Inc. refused to honor a check for $25,000 on the account belonging to the plaintiff in this case, because the signature on it did not match his signature on file. The problem, the complaint for this class action claims, was that Fidelity had already honored fifteen other checks and three direct deposits on his account, all of which were equally fraudulent.
The class for this action is residents of Hawaii who were Fidelity account holders within the applicable statute of limitations and who suffered injuries or damages because of Fidelity’s unauthorized payment of checks, ACH transfers, and direct debits.
Plaintiff Greg B. Tully entered into an account agreement with Fidelity in 1992.
On October 7, 2020, Tully house was burglarized. Afterwards, Tully saw that checks for his First Hawaiian Bank (FHB) had been stolen, so he notified FHB to close his existing accounts.
Tully’s accounts with Fidelity, the complaint alleges, had had minimal activity: “Since opening his account, Mr. Tully has not made a single withdrawal.” Because the accounts had been unused for nearly thirty years, and Tully is 74, the complaint alleges, “it is reasonable that Mr. Tully, at the time of the burglary, did not know that he was in possession of checks associated with his Fidelity accounts.”
According to the complaint, the first fraudulent check, #1057, was presented to Fidelity on October 27, 2020, and the second, #1043, was presented twice, on November 2, 2020 and on November 20, 2020. The complaint alleges, “Fidelity failed to recognize that [it] cashed the same check number twice.” Only on November 24, 2020, when the sixteenth fraudulent check was presented, did Fidelity notify Tully.
In the meantime, the complaint alleges, “Fidelity, upon [its] own discretion, transferred funds from Mr. Tully’s Core Account FTEXX to his money market account … creating a Margin Account without Mr. Tully’s consent. Fidelity was using the Margin Account to cover amounts for forged checks.”
The complaint alleges that Fidelity first notified Mr. Tully of unauthorized account activity by email, phone call, and letter dated November 24, 2020, notifying Mr. Tully that Fidelity was unable to honor check #1072 for $25,000, because the signature did not match [its] records.” However, it did not tell him about the other withdrawals.
On January 20, 2021, according to the complaint, “Mr. Tully received a letter from Fidelity which enclosed a copy of [c]heck #1057 that was paid on October 27, 2020. It is very clear and obvious … that the signature on check #1057 did not remotely resemble Mr. Tully’s actual signature on file.”
During a single month, the complaint alleges, Fidelity paid out more than $90,000 in fraudulent transactions. Fidelity recovered some of the money, but Tully still has a loss of nearly $50,000. The complaint alleges, “Fidelity refuses to reimburse Mr. Tully for his total losses and denies responsibility in this matter.” It claims that Tully should have reported the theft of his checks earlier.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Fidelity Pays Fraudulent Checks on Investment Account Hawaii Complaint
January 20, 2022
Fidelity Investments, Inc. refused to honor a check for $25,000 on the account belonging to the plaintiff in this case, because the signature on it did not match his signature on file. The problem, the complaint for this class action claims, was that Fidelity had already honored fifteen other checks and three direct deposits on his account, all of which were equally fraudulent.
Fidelity Pays Fraudulent Checks on Investment Account Hawaii ComplaintCase Event History
Fidelity Pays Fraudulent Checks on Investment Account Hawaii Complaint
January 20, 2022
Fidelity Investments, Inc. refused to honor a check for $25,000 on the account belonging to the plaintiff in this case, because the signature on it did not match his signature on file. The problem, the complaint for this class action claims, was that Fidelity had already honored fifteen other checks and three direct deposits on his account, all of which were equally fraudulent.
Fidelity Pays Fraudulent Checks on Investment Account Hawaii Complaint