Scam victim sues Richmond bank for lack of fraud warning

Vikki Hui

VHUI@RICHMOND-NEWS COM

A woman who was scammed just got a second chance to hold the bank that authorized the transaction partially responsible

Li Zheng decided to sue the Richmond branch of Bank of China (Canada) after losing almost $70,000 to a scammer She turned to the Court of Appeal after her civil suit was dismissed in the Supreme Court.

Zheng had received a call from someone back in May 2018 who claimed to be with the Chinese consulate The caller, who had Zheng’s driver’s licence number, told her she was being investigated for an international money laundering case

She was given the option to either fly back to China and stay in jail during the investigation or transfer funds to Hong Kong that would be returned after the investigation

Zheng, who said she was “terrified to death” by the threats, went to the Richmond branch of the Bank of China (Canada) and asked a teller to help her transfer $69,000 to another person ’ s account in Hong Kong

She claimed bank employees did not ask her security questions about the transfer, but the bank’s compliance officer told the court he had asked Zheng about her relationship with the Hong Kong recipient Although he did not get a response, he said he “did not notice anything out of the ordinary ”

When she realized she’d been scammed, Zheng filed a civil claim against the bank for not alerting her to the possible fraud.

When that claim was dismissed, Zheng appealed to the BC Court of Appeal, which has decided to revive her claim

In her written reasons, appeal judge Susan Griffin rejected the bank’s claim that Zheng would have made the transaction regardless of any questions from the bank

“There is no evidence that the Bank warned Ms Zheng that there was a prevailing fraud of this sort Had it done so, Ms Zheng may well have realized she was being duped and halted the transaction,” she wrote

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Take the grand staircase up to one of the most historic and beautiful ballrooms in Vancouver and the marquee event of Vancouver Cocktail Week: The Golden Era Cocktail Revival Gala

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