Michael Zidell has filed a lawsuit against Citibank for failing to notice signs of a scam that resulted in a $20 million loss.
The case was submitted in federal court in Manhattan on June 24 and centers on a romance scam that began on Facebook.
According to the complaint, Zidell was contacted in January 2023 by someone using the name “Carolyn Parker”. She claimed to be a business owner, and over time, their online conversations grew more personal.
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After a few weeks, Parker was asked to invest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). She recommended a specific platform and gave him steps to follow. Zidell agreed and began sending money to various bank accounts linked to the platform.
He was told that multiple banks were used to manage the high number of customer deposits. Zidell made 43 transfers totaling more than $20 million.
In April, the investment website had disappeared, along with all the money he had sent. Roughly $4 million of the total was directed to accounts held at Citibank under a company called Guju Inc.
Zidell said the bank allowed twelve transfers to go through without properly reviewing them. His complaint claimed that the size and pattern of the payments should have prompted further checks.
The lawsuit argued that Citibank overlooked activity that should have raised concerns. It stated that the bank did not properly monitor the account, failed to follow standard safeguards, and allowed suspicious transactions to continue without questioning them.
On June 25, AUSTRAC reported that a 77-year-old widow lost AU$433,000 in an 18-month Bitcoin
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