People often consider safe deposit boxes the ultimate safekeeping location. But this class action alleges that some persons were robbed of the items in their safe deposit boxes with US Bancorp and US Bank, NA in California because, it claims, the bank took cost-cutting measures purportedly to “consolidate” its holdings of safe deposit boxes which resulted in the contents of the boxes being stolen.
The class for this action is all persons, including individuals and legal entities, who, for a fee, deposited property in a USB safe deposit box in California, where the safe deposit box was drilled by USB, and where any of the property deposited in it was not returned to the depositor.
The plaintiffs in this case, brothers Peter and Sut Fong, listed many of the items they claim they held in a safe deposit box with a US Bank in Sacramento, California, including the following:
- Cash, including $85,000 in $100 bills
- Four 10-ounce old bars
- 45 cut investment diamonds
- Numerous pieces of gold and jade jewelry
- Two Rolex watches
The complaint claims USB has been trying to limit the boxes to a reduced number of branches. However, it says, “USB did not transfer safe deposit boxes from one branch to another[,] but just eliminated the safe deposit boxes [altogether] in the branches that stopped providing the safe deposit box service.”
USB did not tell the customers to remove their items, the complaint alleges: “Rather, USB unilaterally removed the safe deposit boxes from the vaults, and then ‘drilled’ into the boxes to access their contents without their customers’ knowledge, let alone consent.”
The belongings in the box were the product of many years of hard work, the complaint alleges, by the Fongs’ grandparents and later generations, who worked in restaurants and bought jewelry as investments because they did not know how to invest in securities.
The complaint suggests that the bank drilled the Fongs’ safe deposit box on November 17, 2021—the very day the bank also charged their bank account $96.10 to pay for the box for another year.
The Fongs only learned about the safe deposit box being drilled, the complaint alleges, because law enforcement contacted them about it. The Fongs then rushed to the bank, but the complaint says, “The box was unlocked and stashed in a side room—not the Bank vault.”
The complaint says that hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of cash, jewelry, and heirlooms had disappeared, and envelopes and pouches that had held the valuables were empty.
USB claims it conducted an internal investigation, but the complaint says that the bank did not disclose any specifics to the Fongs or allow them to review security camera footage. The local police, the FBI, and the Comptroller of the Currency refused to get involved, the complaint alleges, and while the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent the bank an inquiry, the complaint alleges that USB’s reply again did not provide any specifics.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
US Bank Drilled Safe Deposit Boxes California Complaint
July 21, 2022
People often consider safe deposit boxes the ultimate safekeeping location. But this class action alleges that some persons were robbed of the items in their safe deposit boxes with US Bancorp and US Bank, NA in California because, it claims, the bank took cost-cutting measures purportedly to “consolidate” its holdings of safe deposit boxes which resulted in the contents of the boxes being stolen.
US Bank Drilled Safe Deposit Boxes California ComplaintCase Event History
US Bank Drilled Safe Deposit Boxes California Complaint
July 21, 2022
People often consider safe deposit boxes the ultimate safekeeping location. But this class action alleges that some persons were robbed of the items in their safe deposit boxes with US Bancorp and US Bank, NA in California because, it claims, the bank took cost-cutting measures purportedly to “consolidate” its holdings of safe deposit boxes which resulted in the contents of the boxes being stolen.
US Bank Drilled Safe Deposit Boxes California Complaint