Preview
FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK Date Filed: 03/14/2024
----------------------------------------------------------------------x Index No.:
LINDA R. STEIN & RABBI STEPHEN STEIN Plaintiffs designate Kings
County as the place of trial
Plaintiff,
The basis of the venue is
-against- Plaintiffs Residence
SUMMONS
BANK OF AMERICA, NA & Plaintiff's Residence
JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, NA is located at
LAWRENCE BOBO and JOHN DOE, 297 Marlin Street
Dix Hills, NY 11746
Defendant. County of Suffolk
To the above named Defendant:
You are hereby summoned to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy
of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of
Plaintiffs'
appearance, on the Attorney(s) within 20 days after the service of this summons,
exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this summons
is not personally delivered to you within the State ofNew York): and in case ofyour failure to
appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the
complaint.
Dated: Woodbury, NY
March 14, 2024 /s/ Alan C. Stein
ALAN C. STEIN, ESQ
LAW OFFICE OF ALAN C. STEIN, P.C.
Attorney for Plaintiff
7600 Jericho Turnpike Suite 308
Woodbury, NY 11797
(516) 932-1800
Defendanes address:
BANK OF AMERICA, NA
1111 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY
JP MORGAN CHASE BANK
270 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10172
LAWRENCE BOBO
109'"
8386 SW Lane
Ocala FL 34481
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SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK
__------______________________________________________________________Ç
LINDA R. STEIN & RABBI STEPHEN STEIN Index No.
Plaintiff,
-against- VERIFIED COMPLAINT
BANK OF AMERICA, NA &
JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, NA
LAWRENCE BOBO and JOHN DOE,
defendant.
-------_______________________________________________________________Ç
Plaintiff, LINDA R. STEIN & RABBI STEPHEN STEIN by its attomey, ALAN C.
STEIN, ESQ. complaining of the Defendants, upon information and belief, respectfully alleges as
follows:
AS AND FOR A FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
1. At all times hereinafter mentioned, Plaintiffs are residents of County of Suffolk &
State of New York.
2. Plaintiff Rabbi Stephen Stein is 88 years of age and Plaintiff Linda Stein is 81 years
of age as of the date of this Complaint.
3. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant BANK
OF AMERICA is a Banking Corporation duly licensed to do business in the State of New York.
4. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant JP
MORGAN CHASE BANK (hereinafter referred to as "CHASE") is a Banking Corporation duly
licensed to do business in the State of New York.
5. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant
LAWRENCE BOBO is a resident of the State of Florida and is in possession of funds belonging
to Plaintiff.
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6. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant BANK
OF AMERICA, NA (hereinafter referred to as "BOA") maintains branches within the County of
Suffolk, State of New York.
7. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant CHASE
maintains branches within the County of Suffolk, State of New York.
8. Plaintiffs have been customers of BOA or their predecessors for over thirty years.
9. Plaintiffs maintained a Bank account with BOA and maintained checking Account
number *********8756.
10. That on or about September 15, 2023, an unknown person named John Doe, hacked
into the online banking account of Plaintiffs and issued an electronic check 0091243996 for
$5,000.00 to Lawrence Bobo at which point funds were immediately removed from Plaintiff's
accounts and moved to Defendant Lawrence Bobo's account at CHASE.
11. That on or about October 16, 2023, an unknown person named John Doe, hacked
into the online banking account of Plaintiffs and issued an electronic check 0096572598 for
$5,000.00 to Lawrence Bobo at which point funds were immediately removed from Plaintiff's
accounts and moved to Defendant Lawrence Bobo's account at CHASE.
12. That on or about October 16, 2023, an unknown person named John Doe, hacked
into the online banking account of Plaintiffs and issued an electronic check 0096572599 for
$6,490.00 to Lawrence Bobo at which point funds were immediately removed from Plaintiff's
accounts and moved to Defendant Lawrence Bobo's account at CHASE.
13. Plaintiff learned about fraudulent removal of funds and notified BOA on February
29, 2024.
14. Plaintiffs notified BOA on March 1, 2024 with regard to the fraudulent actions and
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filed a claim with the fraud department of BOA and received claim number 01MAR2024-527350.
15. That this claim was filed within 180 days of the first fraudulent occurrence.
16. As Plaintiff Linda Stein had surgery scheduled for March 5, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a
police report with respect to the fraud on March 6, 2024.
Plaintiffs'
17. On February 29, 2024, daughter telephoned defendant LAWRENCE
BOBO who indicated that the monies were in his CHASE account bearing account number
****39620, however CHASE froze his account as a result of fraudulent activity.
18. On March 1, 2024, BOA advised Plaintiffs that they would render a decision on
their ability to pay the claim by March 15, 2024.
19. On March 14, 2024, BOA denied the claim based on a computer related issue.
20. BOA refused to go to CHASE to recover the monies despite the funds being held
in a CHASE account from BOBO.
21. That Bobo admitted that someone called him and offered him money for computer
work he was going to do in the future and that he should accept these payments for his future
employer. .
22. As to the unknown individual defendant(s) John Doe, liable for the actual fraud
who utilized security gaps to steal Plaintiff's funds, Defendant BOA improperly and negligently
provided a conduit to its accountholder to consummate the fraudulent diversion of Plaintiff's
funds, or otherwise facilitated same.
23. That Plaintiff as a customer of Defendant's bank is owed a duty by the bank to act
in a reasonable manner to protect the security of it's account holder's accounts.
24. That Defendant, as a bank, has knowledge that it is the victim of fraud on a daily
basis.
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25. That Defendant has a security team that has knowledge of the tactics of those that
commit fraud on its customers.
26. Defendant BOA knew or should have known that these payments were fraudulent
or at least contacted Plaintiffs.
27. That Defendant should not have denied the claim for reimbursement and should
have arranged a return of funds from CHASE.
28. That Defendant failed to telephone the Plaintiffs with regard to these large
electronic checks and failed to contact CHASE to recover the funds that are awaiting recovery.
29. As to the unknown individual defendant(s) liable for the actual fraud who utilized
security gaps in Defendant BOA's wire transfer protocols to steal Plaintiff's funds, Defendant
BOA is in exclusive possession of information as to the tortfeasor since same is its account holder.
30. Defendant BOA improperly and negligently provided a conduit to its accountholder
to consummate the fraudulent diversion of Plaintiff's funds, or otherwise facilitated same.
Defendants'
31. Due to the collective actions detailed above, plaintiff was been caused
to suffer actual pecuniary harm in excess of $16,490.00.
AS AND FOR A FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
UCC Article 4-A
32. Plaintiff repeats, realleges, and reiterates each and every allegation set forth in
"1" "34"
Paragraphs through as if set forth in their entirety herein.
33. This Cause of Action is asserted against the Defendant BOA, that Plaintiff
suffered damages as a result of the Defendant's failure to comply with its affirmative statutory
obligations set forth in Article 4-A of the UCC.
34. Article 4-A of the New York Uniform Commercial Code governs electronic funds
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transfers, commonly known as wholesale wire transfers. N.Y. UCC § 4-A-102.
35. Funds transfers are "series of transactions, beginning with the originator's
order"
payment order, made for the purpose of making payment to the beneficiary of the and are
completed "by acceptance by the beneficiary's bank of a payment order for the benefit of the
order."
beneficiary of the originator's payment N.Y. UCC § 4-A-104.
36. A payment order is "an instruction of a sender to a receiving bank, transmitted
orally, electronically, or in writing, to pay ... a fixed or determinable amount of money to a
beneficiary [where] the receiving bank is to be reimbursed by debiting an account of ... the
sender."
N.Y. UCC § 4-A-103.
"sender" bank."
37. The is "the person giving instruction to the receiving The
bank" addressed." "beneficiary"
"receiving is "the bank to which the sender's instruction is The is
bank"
"the person to be paid by the beneficiary's and the beneficiary's bank is "the bank identified
order."
in a payment order in which an account of the beneficiary is to be credited pursuant to the
38. Pursuant to the foregoing statutory scheme, the subject wire transfers constitute
electronic funds transfers governed by Article 4-A.
39. Sections 4-A-202, 4-A-203, 4-A-204 and 4-A-205 of the N.Y. UCC govern
liability for unauthorized funds transfers. Defendant BOA is liable to the Plaintiff pursuant to
N.Y. UCC §4-A-205 by reason of its failure to satisfy its obligations thereunder.
40. Defendant BOA is subject to the commercial reasonableness standard pursuant to
NY UCC 4-A-202(a).
41. Defendant BOA bears the risk of loss the subject with respect to the subject wire
transfers by reason thereof pursuant to NY UCC §§4-A-203, 4-A-204 and 4-A-205.
42. The subject transfer was erroneous and subject to the terms of Section 4-A of the
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NY UCC. 25. Defendant BOA, as the receiving bank, failed to process the subject transfer in a
secure manner and failed to implement safeguards to detect erroneous transfers pursuant to NY
UCC 4-A-205(1).
43. Had Defendant BOA acted in a commercially reasonable manner and applied
adequate security procedures, it is likely that the erroneous transfers would not have occurred.
payee"
44. BOA did not notify Plaintiffs by email or otherwise that a "new was added
to the electronic banking.
45. Other Banks such as CHASE do notify the account holder of the addition of
payees on the electronic banking.
46. As a result, the transfer was processed by Defendant BOA in a manner that it
resulted in the wrongful diversion and receipt of an unintended pursuant to UCC 4-A-
beneficiary
205(1)(i).
47. Defendant BOA participated in the erroneous transfer and execution of same in
contravention of NY UCC 4-A-303(3) by enabling such transfer to be transmitted to an improper
beneficiary.
48. In the case at bar, the unknown individual(s) who accessed the Plaintiffs account
with BOA was allowed to fraudulently send funds to CHASE on behalf of defendant Lawrence
Bobo and withdraw the funds with impunity.
49. Defendant BOA, the depositary bank, allowed such illicit withdrawal, negotiated
the instrument in the absence of any legitimate endorsement.
50. Plaintiff's rights to payment on the instrument vested with the delivery to the
identity thief of the stolen funds.
51. The Defendant BOA as the depositary bank, then disbursed the rightful payee's
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funds to LAWRENCE BOBO; an unauthorized party.
52. Defendant BOA's conduct was likely to, and in fact did, harm, the Plaintiff.
53. The aforementioned conduct constitutes a violation of Article 4-A of the NY UCC
as set forth above.
54. Defendant's conduct was the proximate cause which brought about Plaintiff's
loss.
55. As a result of Defendant's conduct, Plaintiff has sustained damages for which it is
entitled to recover from Defendant BOA in the sum of not less than $16,490.00, interest and
attorney's fees pursuant to UCC 4-A-305 resulting in a sum in excess of the jurisdictional limit of
$25,000.00.
AS AND FOR A SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION FOR NEGLIGENCE
56. Plaintiff repeats, realleges and reiterates each and every allegation set forth in
"1" "55"
Paragraphs through as if set forth in their entirety herein.
57. This Cause of Action is asserted that Plaintiff suffered damages as a result of the
Defendants negligence.
Chase."
58. BOA had a duty to its customer to "go get the money from
59. CHASE has a duty to return monies it knows are fraudulently removed from a
bank account.
60. These defendants owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, as well as other similarly
situated consumers, regarding the implementation and administration of protocols designed to
prevent the type of harm that resulted in the plaintiff's damages.
61. These defendants further failed to follow their own security protocols and privacy
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policy as to accounts protected from unauthorized negotiation and withdrawals and negligently
permitted the unauthorized diversion of Plaintiff's funds by accepting a fraudulent account
opening or other false account authorization and further failing to verify valid authorization for
transactions associated with the maintenance or control of an account.
62. These defendants were further negligent in failing to implement and administer
adequate procedures designed to prevent the occurrence of the unauthorized negotiation and use
of customer accounts.
63. These defendants were further negligent in failing to notify Plaintiff of an
unauthorized negotiation of an instrument and in failing to act in a commercially reasonable
manner.
defendants'
64. By reason of their respective and collective negligence, the breach
their duty of care to the plaintiff.
65. Said defendants continue to obfuscate their negligent and/or otherwise improper
and unlawful actions and omissions in permitting, investigating, communicating and resolving
issues involving the aforesaid improper fraudulent wire transfers.
Defendants'
66. As a result of these above violations, the Plaintiff has sustained
damages for which it is entitled to recover from said defendants which such damages were
proximately caused by the aforementioned negligence of these defendants
67. That the damages sustained by Plaintiff were caused solely by reason of the
carelessness and negligence of the parts of Defendant without any contributory negligence on the
part of Plaintiff.
68. That as a result of the foregoing, Plaintiff has been damaged in the sum of FIVE
MILLION ($5,000,000.00) DOLLARS.
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AS AND FOR A THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION
Money Had and Received (Against Defendant(s) CHASE & LAWRENCE BOBO)
69. Plaintiff repeats and realleges each and every allegation above and incorporates
same herein.
70. The Defendants received money rightfully belonging to another.
71. The Defendants benefitted from the receipt of the money.
72. Equity and good conscience dictate that the money should not be kept by the
Defendants.
73. Therefore, the funds of $16,490.00 should be immediately returned to Plaintiffs.
AS AND FOR A FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION
Fraudulent Inducement and Concealment (Against Defendant(s) JOHN DOE)
74. Plaintiff repeats and realleges each and every allegation above and incorporates
same herein.
75. This Cause of Action is asserted against Defendant for actual, compensatory and
punitive damages based upon common law fraud and/or fraud in the inducement and concealment.
76. The conduct referred to above constitute numerous intentional misrepresentations,
concealments and/or omissions of fact by Defendant.
77. The misstatements, concealments and/or omissions as to the propriety ofthe receipt
and use of Plaintiff's funds.
78. Defendant made the above described misrepresentations, concealments and/or
omissions of material fact with full knowledge of their falsity and/or with reckless disregard of the
truth.
79. Defendant intended that the Plaintiff rely upon the aforementioned
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misrepresentations, concealments and/or omissions.
80. Plaintiff reasonably relied on Defendant's intentional misrepresentations,
concealments or omissions.
8I. As a result of the Defendant's conduct, Plaintiff was injured for which it is entitled
to recover actual, compensatory and punitive damages.
82. The above-mentioned acts were committed by Defendant willfully, wantonly and
with reckless disregard of the rights of the Plaintiff, for which Plaintiff request
Preview
FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF SUFFOLK Date Filed: 03/14/2024 ----------------------------------------------------------------------x Index No.: LINDA R. STEIN & RABBI STEPHEN STEIN Plaintiffs designate Kings County as the place of trial Plaintiff, The basis of the venue is -against- Plaintiffs Residence SUMMONS BANK OF AMERICA, NA & Plaintiff's Residence JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, NA is located at LAWRENCE BOBO and JOHN DOE, 297 Marlin Street Dix Hills, NY 11746 Defendant. County of Suffolk To the above named Defendant: You are hereby summoned to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of Plaintiffs' appearance, on the Attorney(s) within 20 days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State ofNew York): and in case ofyour failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint. Dated: Woodbury, NY March 14, 2024 /s/ Alan C. Stein ALAN C. STEIN, ESQ LAW OFFICE OF ALAN C. STEIN, P.C. Attorney for Plaintiff 7600 Jericho Turnpike Suite 308 Woodbury, NY 11797 (516) 932-1800 Defendanes address: BANK OF AMERICA, NA 1111 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY JP MORGAN CHASE BANK 270 Park Avenue New York, NY 10172 LAWRENCE BOBO 109'" 8386 SW Lane Ocala FL 34481 1 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF SUFFOLK __------______________________________________________________________Ç LINDA R. STEIN & RABBI STEPHEN STEIN Index No. Plaintiff, -against- VERIFIED COMPLAINT BANK OF AMERICA, NA & JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, NA LAWRENCE BOBO and JOHN DOE, defendant. -------_______________________________________________________________Ç Plaintiff, LINDA R. STEIN & RABBI STEPHEN STEIN by its attomey, ALAN C. STEIN, ESQ. complaining of the Defendants, upon information and belief, respectfully alleges as follows: AS AND FOR A FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION 1. At all times hereinafter mentioned, Plaintiffs are residents of County of Suffolk & State of New York. 2. Plaintiff Rabbi Stephen Stein is 88 years of age and Plaintiff Linda Stein is 81 years of age as of the date of this Complaint. 3. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant BANK OF AMERICA is a Banking Corporation duly licensed to do business in the State of New York. 4. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant JP MORGAN CHASE BANK (hereinafter referred to as "CHASE") is a Banking Corporation duly licensed to do business in the State of New York. 5. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant LAWRENCE BOBO is a resident of the State of Florida and is in possession of funds belonging to Plaintiff. 2 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 6. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant BANK OF AMERICA, NA (hereinafter referred to as "BOA") maintains branches within the County of Suffolk, State of New York. 7. Upon information and belief, at all times hereinafter mentioned, Defendant CHASE maintains branches within the County of Suffolk, State of New York. 8. Plaintiffs have been customers of BOA or their predecessors for over thirty years. 9. Plaintiffs maintained a Bank account with BOA and maintained checking Account number *********8756. 10. That on or about September 15, 2023, an unknown person named John Doe, hacked into the online banking account of Plaintiffs and issued an electronic check 0091243996 for $5,000.00 to Lawrence Bobo at which point funds were immediately removed from Plaintiff's accounts and moved to Defendant Lawrence Bobo's account at CHASE. 11. That on or about October 16, 2023, an unknown person named John Doe, hacked into the online banking account of Plaintiffs and issued an electronic check 0096572598 for $5,000.00 to Lawrence Bobo at which point funds were immediately removed from Plaintiff's accounts and moved to Defendant Lawrence Bobo's account at CHASE. 12. That on or about October 16, 2023, an unknown person named John Doe, hacked into the online banking account of Plaintiffs and issued an electronic check 0096572599 for $6,490.00 to Lawrence Bobo at which point funds were immediately removed from Plaintiff's accounts and moved to Defendant Lawrence Bobo's account at CHASE. 13. Plaintiff learned about fraudulent removal of funds and notified BOA on February 29, 2024. 14. Plaintiffs notified BOA on March 1, 2024 with regard to the fraudulent actions and 3 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 filed a claim with the fraud department of BOA and received claim number 01MAR2024-527350. 15. That this claim was filed within 180 days of the first fraudulent occurrence. 16. As Plaintiff Linda Stein had surgery scheduled for March 5, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a police report with respect to the fraud on March 6, 2024. Plaintiffs' 17. On February 29, 2024, daughter telephoned defendant LAWRENCE BOBO who indicated that the monies were in his CHASE account bearing account number ****39620, however CHASE froze his account as a result of fraudulent activity. 18. On March 1, 2024, BOA advised Plaintiffs that they would render a decision on their ability to pay the claim by March 15, 2024. 19. On March 14, 2024, BOA denied the claim based on a computer related issue. 20. BOA refused to go to CHASE to recover the monies despite the funds being held in a CHASE account from BOBO. 21. That Bobo admitted that someone called him and offered him money for computer work he was going to do in the future and that he should accept these payments for his future employer. . 22. As to the unknown individual defendant(s) John Doe, liable for the actual fraud who utilized security gaps to steal Plaintiff's funds, Defendant BOA improperly and negligently provided a conduit to its accountholder to consummate the fraudulent diversion of Plaintiff's funds, or otherwise facilitated same. 23. That Plaintiff as a customer of Defendant's bank is owed a duty by the bank to act in a reasonable manner to protect the security of it's account holder's accounts. 24. That Defendant, as a bank, has knowledge that it is the victim of fraud on a daily basis. 4 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 25. That Defendant has a security team that has knowledge of the tactics of those that commit fraud on its customers. 26. Defendant BOA knew or should have known that these payments were fraudulent or at least contacted Plaintiffs. 27. That Defendant should not have denied the claim for reimbursement and should have arranged a return of funds from CHASE. 28. That Defendant failed to telephone the Plaintiffs with regard to these large electronic checks and failed to contact CHASE to recover the funds that are awaiting recovery. 29. As to the unknown individual defendant(s) liable for the actual fraud who utilized security gaps in Defendant BOA's wire transfer protocols to steal Plaintiff's funds, Defendant BOA is in exclusive possession of information as to the tortfeasor since same is its account holder. 30. Defendant BOA improperly and negligently provided a conduit to its accountholder to consummate the fraudulent diversion of Plaintiff's funds, or otherwise facilitated same. Defendants' 31. Due to the collective actions detailed above, plaintiff was been caused to suffer actual pecuniary harm in excess of $16,490.00. AS AND FOR A FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION UCC Article 4-A 32. Plaintiff repeats, realleges, and reiterates each and every allegation set forth in "1" "34" Paragraphs through as if set forth in their entirety herein. 33. This Cause of Action is asserted against the Defendant BOA, that Plaintiff suffered damages as a result of the Defendant's failure to comply with its affirmative statutory obligations set forth in Article 4-A of the UCC. 34. Article 4-A of the New York Uniform Commercial Code governs electronic funds 5 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 transfers, commonly known as wholesale wire transfers. N.Y. UCC § 4-A-102. 35. Funds transfers are "series of transactions, beginning with the originator's order" payment order, made for the purpose of making payment to the beneficiary of the and are completed "by acceptance by the beneficiary's bank of a payment order for the benefit of the order." beneficiary of the originator's payment N.Y. UCC § 4-A-104. 36. A payment order is "an instruction of a sender to a receiving bank, transmitted orally, electronically, or in writing, to pay ... a fixed or determinable amount of money to a beneficiary [where] the receiving bank is to be reimbursed by debiting an account of ... the sender." N.Y. UCC § 4-A-103. "sender" bank." 37. The is "the person giving instruction to the receiving The bank" addressed." "beneficiary" "receiving is "the bank to which the sender's instruction is The is bank" "the person to be paid by the beneficiary's and the beneficiary's bank is "the bank identified order." in a payment order in which an account of the beneficiary is to be credited pursuant to the 38. Pursuant to the foregoing statutory scheme, the subject wire transfers constitute electronic funds transfers governed by Article 4-A. 39. Sections 4-A-202, 4-A-203, 4-A-204 and 4-A-205 of the N.Y. UCC govern liability for unauthorized funds transfers. Defendant BOA is liable to the Plaintiff pursuant to N.Y. UCC §4-A-205 by reason of its failure to satisfy its obligations thereunder. 40. Defendant BOA is subject to the commercial reasonableness standard pursuant to NY UCC 4-A-202(a). 41. Defendant BOA bears the risk of loss the subject with respect to the subject wire transfers by reason thereof pursuant to NY UCC §§4-A-203, 4-A-204 and 4-A-205. 42. The subject transfer was erroneous and subject to the terms of Section 4-A of the 6 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 NY UCC. 25. Defendant BOA, as the receiving bank, failed to process the subject transfer in a secure manner and failed to implement safeguards to detect erroneous transfers pursuant to NY UCC 4-A-205(1). 43. Had Defendant BOA acted in a commercially reasonable manner and applied adequate security procedures, it is likely that the erroneous transfers would not have occurred. payee" 44. BOA did not notify Plaintiffs by email or otherwise that a "new was added to the electronic banking. 45. Other Banks such as CHASE do notify the account holder of the addition of payees on the electronic banking. 46. As a result, the transfer was processed by Defendant BOA in a manner that it resulted in the wrongful diversion and receipt of an unintended pursuant to UCC 4-A- beneficiary 205(1)(i). 47. Defendant BOA participated in the erroneous transfer and execution of same in contravention of NY UCC 4-A-303(3) by enabling such transfer to be transmitted to an improper beneficiary. 48. In the case at bar, the unknown individual(s) who accessed the Plaintiffs account with BOA was allowed to fraudulently send funds to CHASE on behalf of defendant Lawrence Bobo and withdraw the funds with impunity. 49. Defendant BOA, the depositary bank, allowed such illicit withdrawal, negotiated the instrument in the absence of any legitimate endorsement. 50. Plaintiff's rights to payment on the instrument vested with the delivery to the identity thief of the stolen funds. 51. The Defendant BOA as the depositary bank, then disbursed the rightful payee's 7 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 funds to LAWRENCE BOBO; an unauthorized party. 52. Defendant BOA's conduct was likely to, and in fact did, harm, the Plaintiff. 53. The aforementioned conduct constitutes a violation of Article 4-A of the NY UCC as set forth above. 54. Defendant's conduct was the proximate cause which brought about Plaintiff's loss. 55. As a result of Defendant's conduct, Plaintiff has sustained damages for which it is entitled to recover from Defendant BOA in the sum of not less than $16,490.00, interest and attorney's fees pursuant to UCC 4-A-305 resulting in a sum in excess of the jurisdictional limit of $25,000.00. AS AND FOR A SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION FOR NEGLIGENCE 56. Plaintiff repeats, realleges and reiterates each and every allegation set forth in "1" "55" Paragraphs through as if set forth in their entirety herein. 57. This Cause of Action is asserted that Plaintiff suffered damages as a result of the Defendants negligence. Chase." 58. BOA had a duty to its customer to "go get the money from 59. CHASE has a duty to return monies it knows are fraudulently removed from a bank account. 60. These defendants owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, as well as other similarly situated consumers, regarding the implementation and administration of protocols designed to prevent the type of harm that resulted in the plaintiff's damages. 61. These defendants further failed to follow their own security protocols and privacy 8 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 policy as to accounts protected from unauthorized negotiation and withdrawals and negligently permitted the unauthorized diversion of Plaintiff's funds by accepting a fraudulent account opening or other false account authorization and further failing to verify valid authorization for transactions associated with the maintenance or control of an account. 62. These defendants were further negligent in failing to implement and administer adequate procedures designed to prevent the occurrence of the unauthorized negotiation and use of customer accounts. 63. These defendants were further negligent in failing to notify Plaintiff of an unauthorized negotiation of an instrument and in failing to act in a commercially reasonable manner. defendants' 64. By reason of their respective and collective negligence, the breach their duty of care to the plaintiff. 65. Said defendants continue to obfuscate their negligent and/or otherwise improper and unlawful actions and omissions in permitting, investigating, communicating and resolving issues involving the aforesaid improper fraudulent wire transfers. Defendants' 66. As a result of these above violations, the Plaintiff has sustained damages for which it is entitled to recover from said defendants which such damages were proximately caused by the aforementioned negligence of these defendants 67. That the damages sustained by Plaintiff were caused solely by reason of the carelessness and negligence of the parts of Defendant without any contributory negligence on the part of Plaintiff. 68. That as a result of the foregoing, Plaintiff has been damaged in the sum of FIVE MILLION ($5,000,000.00) DOLLARS. 9 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 AS AND FOR A THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION Money Had and Received (Against Defendant(s) CHASE & LAWRENCE BOBO) 69. Plaintiff repeats and realleges each and every allegation above and incorporates same herein. 70. The Defendants received money rightfully belonging to another. 71. The Defendants benefitted from the receipt of the money. 72. Equity and good conscience dictate that the money should not be kept by the Defendants. 73. Therefore, the funds of $16,490.00 should be immediately returned to Plaintiffs. AS AND FOR A FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION Fraudulent Inducement and Concealment (Against Defendant(s) JOHN DOE) 74. Plaintiff repeats and realleges each and every allegation above and incorporates same herein. 75. This Cause of Action is asserted against Defendant for actual, compensatory and punitive damages based upon common law fraud and/or fraud in the inducement and concealment. 76. The conduct referred to above constitute numerous intentional misrepresentations, concealments and/or omissions of fact by Defendant. 77. The misstatements, concealments and/or omissions as to the propriety ofthe receipt and use of Plaintiff's funds. 78. Defendant made the above described misrepresentations, concealments and/or omissions of material fact with full knowledge of their falsity and/or with reckless disregard of the truth. 79. Defendant intended that the Plaintiff rely upon the aforementioned 10 of 15 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/15/2024 01:50 PM INDEX NO. 606696/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/15/2024 misrepresentations, concealments and/or omissions. 80. Plaintiff reasonably relied on Defendant's intentional misrepresentations, concealments or omissions. 8I. As a result of the Defendant's conduct, Plaintiff was injured for which it is entitled to recover actual, compensatory and punitive damages. 82. The above-mentioned acts were committed by Defendant willfully, wantonly and with reckless disregard of the rights of the Plaintiff, for which Plaintiff request