Litigation: General Commercial

About

Provided by The Patterson Law Firm, LLC

Recent Work Highlights:

Jacobson v. Citibank Arbitration Win

On April 4, 2024, PLF attorney James Bonebrake achieved a major victory for Scott Jacobson in arbitration against Citibank, a case covered by NBC Channel 5 News due to widespread fraud affecting bank accounts. Scott’s account, set up to manage funds for his sister’s Alzheimer’s care, had over $150,000 and had never been used for wire transfers before 2021.

Between October 8 and 13, 2021, $121,500 was fraudulently transferred from Scott’s account to a bank in Bangkok. Scott discovered the theft on October 14, 2021, and reported it immediately. Citibank refused to refund the stolen amount, claiming the transactions were valid, although it later destroyed the texts and email used to confirm the transfers.

In February 2024 arbitration, Jim proved Citibank failed to act reasonably under the Uniform Commercial Code, did not use multifactor authentication, and lacked a system to flag suspicious transactions. Additionally, the bank violated federal pre-transaction disclosure rules and its own contract terms. The arbitrator awarded Scott $121,500 for the stolen funds, $18,089 in interest, and $37,552.50 in attorney’s fees due to Citibank’s destruction of evidence. Citibank is appealing the decision, but Jim is confident the ruling will be upheld, ensuring Scott’s funds and expenses are restored. Jim praised Scott for his bravery in confronting Citibank.