My girlfriend sold a race engine of mine on ebay and wrote me two checks for the exact same amount of about $1500. I deposited them (because I knew I had to wait for them to clear to cash them)to my account, and went on my way. A few hours later the vice president called and told me that I was a fraud and that the checks were duplicated by me and that he was closing my account. My girlfriend called her bank and he had never called to verify that, nor had he called. I have checks scheduled to go through and he said he is closing my account first thing in the morning and I dont know what to do. I have a good history with this bank, I know they can close my account for any or no reason but I did not do anything wrong! My girlfriend tried to call him and tell him that she wrote the checks but he will not speak to her. What should I do?

I'm going to assume what you say is true and no intent to defraud existed.

First, If I were called a fraud unjustly, I would be very upset. Obviously this is going to cause you a lot of inconvience.

Don't waste your time trying to reason with the officer that called. March into his bosses Office and ask politely to please show you why you are being called a fraud. Get it cleared up. You do not want to be reported to CheckSystem or any other reporting agency with this on your record. COMPLAIN to a higher authority in the bank

If no one will talk to you and they are completely uncoorporative in resolving this with you I would write the banks regulator a big complaint letter.

If you are reported to a Credit Agency and incurr fees and problems due to returning checks (Again with no copperation from the bank) I would talk to a lawyer.

Don, thanks so much for your quick advice. The man that called me was the Senior Vice President. My girlfriend tried to call him before he left but he was gone, she left a message for him to call her back but he told me that he wouldn't talk to her. I am extremely upset, and I really don't know what to do. He did everything he could to insult me short of cursing me.

I will certainly attempt to be in contact with the President in the morning. Do you think that my girlfriend should continue her attempt to tell him, do you think that will help at all?

I realize now that she just should have given me cashier's checks to avoid this whole situation, but since when was it a crime for someone to write me as many checks as they want? I am sorry I am just very upset right now. Thanks for your advice.

The important thing is keep you cool. If your girl friend can go with you so much the better. Try to have as unemotional diolague as you can.

You have done nothing wrong but something set off the VP.

I wasn't there and didn't hear what he said or`how he said it but there is a professional way for a bankerto speak to customers even when they are telling them to go away.

The important thing is resolving the issue. Then you can get mad at them

Why would he think fraud was involved and why did you have two checks for the same amount? Why didnt the teller hold the funds if she was suspicious of the transactions??

Or how did it even get back to the VP anyway?

Assuming your bank processed the checks and did not reverse your deposit, ask your girlfriend to get written confirmation from her bank when the checks clear her account. Then take this confirmation back to your bank to show them that the checks have been paid.

Interested to know how it went and why the transaction was considered Fraud. Let us know please

Thanks everyone for the advice. It is all settled now. As for the question of how it got to the VP, the bank is in a very small town and there is only 1 branch, all the officers work in the same building and there are only 4 tellers/personal bankers total.

They thought it was fraud because my girlfriend banks with Wells Fargo and the Stagecoach checks are alternating a pinkish color and then a smoky grey color and they thought it was copied.

There were two checks for the same amount because I had to split the money with my dad ( it was a race motor that we both worked significantly on that she sold for us on Ebay) and she just wanted him to be able to see his part (nobody seemed to inform us that it is a problem to write two check for the same amount).

The teller did as what I think is standard procedure and put them on hold for 3 days. A few hours later is when the VP called and accused me of fraud. I cannot get a statement where the checks cleared my account because they never even attempted to send them through they took it upon themselves to end it there.

All of that said, my girlfriend called him first thing this morning and let him know that she wrote the checks, he let her know the "red flags" that it set off and we both totally understand that. However he told her that (I am not sure he is supposed to be telling her or anyone else about my account but anyway) to keep my account from being closed that she has to wire the money from her bank account and that he will not accept the checks in question or any other checks from her in the future (even though she has written me many, many checks of smaller amounts all the time and they have cleared just fine.

I went to pick up her checks this afternoon and he apologized to me for accusing me of fraud and let me know that he would not be closing my account, but something about it still just doesn't seem right.

So, needless to say... Although I have had an exceptional banking relationship with them for the past 4 years I think I am in the market for a new bank to do business with.

I have one more question for you all though, does anyone find it odd that this guy was so sure that I was a criminal, however he was going to give my girlfriends checks back to me without contacting her or her bank and alerting them of the problem. Maybe its just me but that doesnt seem right.

Thanks everyone again for your advice, let me know if you have any other questions or comments.

The VP may need some medication. There is no excuse for his actions. NONE. I would contact his superior and let them know exactly what happened. Don't stop at this point. It may be settled, but what about the next person. What about your girlfriend, he is still treating her like she is a criminal. Write the letter, change your account and tell everyone in your small town about your experience.