Wilbur Brown v. Bank of America
Published: Apr. 12, 1997 | Result Date: Mar. 5, 1997 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: CV9408583 – $175,000
Judge
Court
Maricopa Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
In January 1988, plaintiff Wilbur Brown applied for and was denied a $10,000 preferred credit line account at Security Pacific Bank in Phoenix, Ariz. The plaintiff claimed that in 1993, he discovered that he and numerous others had been defrauded by the defendant bank's branch manager into opening lines of credit with the defendant bank. The plaintiff claimed that the branch manager induced the plaintiff to open the credit line to embezzle money from the line of credit in the plaintiff's account. The defendant bank had no knowledge of the branch manager's scheme in 1988. The plaintiff claimed, however, that the defendant bank discovered the branch manager's theft in October 1989, when the branch manager was prosecuted in federal for theft and the bank then sued him to recover the loss suffered by the bank. From 1988 until mid-1993, the plaintiff made payments to the bank for the funds withdrawn from his preferred credit line account. In 1993, the plaintiff contacted the bank and indicated that the branch manager was responsible for the repayments, not the plaintiff. The bank investigated the plaintiff's claim and located the information compiled during Security Pacific Bank's investigation of the manager in 1989. The bank claimed that the plaintiff had (1) taken full responsibility for the account when he was contacted by the security and fraud control department in October 1989, (2) personally used the account in 1989, and (3) singed loan documents in January 1988 obligating him to repay the funds withdrawn from the account, and based on that information, the bank agreed to forgive the balance owing on the plaintiff's account which totaled over $8,500, but did not reimburse him for the monies he had previously paid to the bank, which amounted to about $7,500. The plaintiff brought this action against Bank of America (Security Pacific's successor in interest) based on a conversion theory of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a settlement demand for $750,000. The defendant made a settlement offer of $37,500.
Damages
The plaintiff claimed $7,652.92 in actual damages and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages
Other Information
A settlement conference was held on Nov. 8, 1996 before Judge Hall. It did not resolve the matter.
Deliberation
2+ hours
Poll
__________ (#s pls.)
Length
6 days
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