Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I hope you know where your money is! I have reworked this old first-day-of-spring rhyme to introduce this discussion of the "cashier's check scam" and the "granny scam."
A lawyer in Florida was collecting a claim for someone who purported to be a client. A cashier's check for $173,015 arrived from the supposed debtor, and the attorney deposited the check in his clients' funds account at Citibank. Under Florida Bar rules, cashier's checks carry a "limited and acceptable risk of failure" and the lawyer may disburse the proceeds before they are "finally settled and credited to the lawyer's trust account."
The lawyer wired the money to the Bank of Tokyo. Shortly thereafter Citibank found that the cashier's check was counterfeit, and withdrew the $173,015 from the lawyer's clients' funds account. The sum of $173,015 was not recoverable. The clients' funds account contained money belonging to clients other than the one involved in this case. In order to avoid serious professional problems, the lawyer had to use his own money to replenish the clients' funds account.
The lawyer contested the right of Citibank to charge his clients' funds account (which contained funds of other clients) to make up for the bad check. The case is now on the way to the United States Supreme Court.
In another scam, a grandmother received a telephone call from someone pretending to be her grandchild. He said he was in Florida, had been in an accident with a person from the Dominican Republic, and was being held in jail until he paid the amount of the damage to the other car. He explained that his voice sounded strange because he had broken his nose in the accident.
Grandmother wired $10,000 to the Dominican Republic. The real grandson was never in an automobile accident. Who the imposter was, we will never know.
There are many schemes carried out today. Be very careful about dealing with, or sending money to, anyone you do not know.
My booklet "Estate Planning in Massachusetts" is complete and has been sent to many of our clients. It is also on our website. If you would like a copy, call Susan Vetterlein at our office.
