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JPMorgan Chase (JPM-0.63%) continues to sue more customers who stole thousands from the banking giant after an “infinite money glitch” went viral last summer — a “glitch” that was essentially check fraud.
A technical issue with the bank’s ATMs allowed people to deposit fake checks for large amounts and withdraw that money from their accounts before the bank could clear the checks. The bank went after customers in federal court last fall, but now, CNBC reports, is suing customers who stole amounts less than $75,000.
That means JPMorgan will file these complaints in state courts, according to a person familiar with the company’s actions — and will continue to go after those who stole the largest amounts in the clearest theft pattern.
According to the report, the bank has already filed or will soon file lawsuits in Miami, New York City, two Texas counties, and Gwinnett County, Georgia.
The Georgia lawsuit, according to court filings accessed by CNBC (CMCSA+1.99%), said that in late August, a masked man deposited a $73,000 check in the defendant’s Chase bank account. By the time the check bounced, almost a week later, a series of cash withdrawals totaling more than $82,500 had been made. According to the lawsuit, the defendant owes the bank almost $58,000 and hasn’t complied with requests to return the funds.
JPMorgan has sent over 1,000 letters to the fraud perpetrators since October demanding that they repay the money they stole, according to the person familiar with the bank’s dealings. Some customers returned money on their own after the company announced it was going to sue some of the culprits.
“Chase takes its responsibility to combat fraud seriously and prioritizes protecting the firm and its customers to make the banking system safer,” the bank said in an October court filing. “Part of that responsibility is to hold people accountable when they commit fraud against Chase and its customers. Simply put, engaging in bank fraud is a crime.”
Reportedly, the lawsuits are separate from potential criminal cases against individuals on both the state and federal levels. JPMorgan, meanwhile, is considering pushing back against offenders’ bankruptcy filings.
“We’re still investigating cases of fraud and cooperating with law enforcement — and we’ll do that for as long as it takes to hold fraudsters accountable,” Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for JPMorgan, said in a statement.