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I have a brother that removed my mother from her home and is living with him.He went to bank and closed two of mom's accounts and opened a new one. I inquired at the bank and they said he brought my mother with him when this was done. She is 92. My mother was a victim of elderly fraud/theft that happened at this bank between her and another man 4 years ago. The bank cashed a $40K check and money received in CASH. They walked out of the bank and she gave him all the money. The bank has a note on their screen that says to contact me if there is suspicion of tampering due to past fraud.theft.. My name was also on the account and the bank says there is nothing they can do about it. Nobody called me. How does this happen? I'm livid that it's so easy for some people to pull off these transactions. Could there be an authority that is giving the green light to do this? I'm puzzled.

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It is probably because your Mom was the main holder of the accounts thus she can do whatever she wants with the accounts.... and this wasn't consider a fraud.

But I am wondering as in another posting it sounded like your Mom could have dementia because of the way your brother quickly moved your Mom to his house and locked you out, some of us posters were thinking maybe she was making up abuse stories. Apparently at the bank she acted of sound mind.
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vshs23: You profile says that mom lives with YOU. Now you write here that mom lives with your brother. I am confused.
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I was under the impression that banks question a large amount of money being withdrawn. I'm surprised they handed over 40K.
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I think something's going on and someone needs to put a stop to it. If there was an alert to contact you for suspicious activity, I'm surprised it was an oversight on the part of someone at the bank. I'd be checking with whoever waited on the people in question the day the money was withdrawn and find out why you were never alerted. My guess is that it was either a teller or a personal banker. I wouldn't think it would've been the manager who would've overlooked such a thing, but then again if it was, contact the head branch of your bank and report the fraud. This is who I would contact anyway come to think of it. I would immediately contact the head branch, they have a toll-free number you can call. Definitely tell them what you told us here because you know more about what happened than we do since you found out. If you have some kind of authority over the account, you should've been alerted unless something went on in the background. This may be why someone intervened and close the account behind your back and they may have opened a new one and put their name on it with all the money that was handed to them. It may be that the elder was tricked into something they'll later regret when all of that money vanishes. What I would do first is put a fraud alert out on the account in question by first contacting the head branch of your bank, every bank has one. Next, I would put a fraud alert on the elder's credit and maybe even freeze the credit so no one can open any accounts in the elder's name.
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If your mother was with your brother and she can authorize the transactions then the bank did nothing wrong. If your mother is not competent then who ever is the POA for Finance should have been on the account and the account designated as a Beneficiary account then the bank would have had to check with the POA
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What I'm wondering is do you still have records of the last time your mom was defrauded? If so, you can add them to any records you may now have. Take those records with you to an eldercare lawyer who can help you gain custody of the elder. Guardianship will give you power over all aspects of her life including finances. You can also go after the person who was with her when her account was closed. I would try you first find out the situation behind the closing of her account, and if it sounds suspicious then take legal action
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1RareFind: The person that closed out the account was her brother.
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JoAnn, I, too, thought they questioned large sums leaving the bank. I tried to deposit about $300 and they even questioned that, a deposit.
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1RareFind: Sure thing; you're welcome. I pulled up the OP's profile page because it was confusing. I would think the brother would have had to be on the bank account, else how could he withdraw $40K and have it dispensed in CASH? Something seems amiss. The bank would allow $40K to walk out of their facility and how do they have so much on hand without asking the mom and bro "to come back tomorrow or next day because we don't or can't deplete our cash reserves to that extent/amount?"
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What if maybe they did have the cash on hand? Maybe this is how they were able to dispense the cash to the customers. Some banks can surprise you since that's what the bank is all about, cash. I can't tell you how many times I've seen very large sums at our bank despite it being a small branch, I would've never thought possible to see very large stacks. Of course I don't focus on it when I notice, I see but as soon as I see I look away for privacy of that person handling it, this is just the right thing to do. I know someone in the banking industry and I have much respect for them. When you know someone in the industry, respect is something to have, it's just common sense. No matter the industry you may know someone in, if you know someone in a specific important industry, you'd better have great respect for them if you value the relationship
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