RIAD v. WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.

District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided August 6, 2020·No. 2:19-cv-04292·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

JOSEPH RIAD AND RIAD HOLDINGS, INC., : CIVIL ACTION Plaintiffs : v. : NO. 19-4292 : WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A, : : Defendant. :

MEMORANDUM Plaintiffs Joseph Riad (“Riad”) and Riad Holdings, Inc. (“Riad Holdings”) filed a Complaint in this Court on September 18, 2019 against Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (“Wells Fargo”) asserting claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, conversion, negligence, negligent hiring/supervision, and violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law relating to alleged unauthorized wire transfers, improperly handled cashier’s checks and deposits, and unauthorized account openings and activity. See generally ECF No. 1. Defendant moves for summary judgment as to all of Plaintiffs’ claims. See generally ECF No. 50. I. Background Although Plaintiffs plead six causes of action, both parties agree that the claims center around three “general categories” of facts: (1) unauthorized wire transfer claims, (2) cashier’s check and deposit claims, and (3) unauthorized account claims. ECF No. 52 at 4; ECF No. 50 at 7-12. Plaintiffs contend that each category of fact states a claim under each of Counts 1 through 6. ECF No. 52 at 4.

1. Unauthorized Wire Transfer Claims Plaintiffs maintain that, between November 23, 2010 and January 18, 2011, a number of unauthorized wire transfers were executed through a Wells Fargo

account in the name of Riad Holdings, account number ending in 1413. ECF No. 52-1 at 31, 33. Riad testified that he discovered the purportedly unauthorized wire transfers when he “saw it on the screen” in the office of Wells Fargo branch manager Triandos Randolph. ECF No. 51 at 2; 51-1 at 37 (“Q: And how did you

find out that all of this money had been wired overseas? A: Well, the money was taken out of my account. Q: How did you find that out? A: I saw it on the screen…I went to Tri[andos]’s office, and he pulled my account up and I saw.”).

Riad testified that he would visit Wells Fargo in person and obtain his account balances by viewing them on the screen of a Wells Fargo employee’s computer “at least twice a week” during this time period. ECF No. 51 at 2; 51-1 at 38 (“Q: . . . So how often did you go to the branch and have your balance – for the purpose of

having your balance displayed to you on a screen? A: At least twice a week.”). ECF No. 52 at 36. On January 28, 2011, Riad wrote the following letter to Defendant:

My name is Joseph Riad and I am writing you this letter because I have spoken to my branch manager Triandos Randolph and he has given me this address to write to for follow up on the wire transfers that were sent while I was traveling overseas. I was told that someone at the branch made mistakes during my travel and sent these wires transfer out. I have demanded reverse wires and I was told that this was done. I was also told that you would re credit my account pending the investigation of these mistakes. I have been promised that this problem will be resolved quickly and yet I am not seeing any results. Please look into this matter immediately as this is a huge amount of money over a million dollars. Please give me a call back or email me at [] to update me on your progress on this urgent matter. ECF No. 51 at ¶¶ 9, 10; ECF No. 51-3. 2. Cashier’s Check and Deposit Claims Plaintiffs next maintain that Riad purchased a number of cashier’s checks between December 2, 2011 and February 24, 2012 that Riad redeposited but that the money was not properly redeposited back into his account. ECF No. 51-7; ECF No. 52 at 4, 15. Riad testified that he “[c]omplained to the bank … in 2012” that the cashier’s checks were not “properly treated.” ECF No. 50 at 4, 8; 51-1 at 40 (“Q: Do you recall, sitting here today if you ever complained to anyone that the cashier’s checks weren’t properly treated? A: Yes. Q: Who? A: I complained to the bank. Q. Who? A. Well, I complained to Ryan Silhan, who was the manager at the time. Q. When? . . . A. 2012.”). Next, Plaintiffs claim that Riad made a $2,500,000 deposit on November 10, 2010 and a $1,100,000 deposit on January 19, 2012 and that neither deposit was credited to any of Plaintiffs’ accounts. ECF No. 52 at 17-23. Additionally, Plaintiffs’ expert contends that Riad has a claim related to a debit of $143,525.29

dated February 27, 2012 and associated with an account owned by non-party Michelle Schepperd, account number ending in 7416. ECF No. 51 at ¶ 15. Plaintiffs and Defendant agree that the account ending in 7416 is not owned by

either Plaintiff. Id. at ¶ 16. Plaintiffs maintain that, on February 27, 2012, $143,525.29 was “withdrawn from the account” ending in 7764 and “then deposited without Plaintiffs’ or Schepperd’s [Riad’s ex-wife] knowledge, authority or consent into an unauthorized account in the sole name of Michelle Schepperd,”

account ending in 7416. ECF No. 52 at 7; ECF No. 51 at ¶ 15. 3. Unauthorized Account Claims Finally, Plaintiffs maintain that Defendant opened a number of accounts that

were unauthorized, conducted “unauthorized account activities” in these accounts, and generated unauthorized “fees and interest associated with such accounts.” ECF No. 52 at 4. On March 10, 2020, the Court ordered Plaintiffs to produce an unredacted

spreadsheet identifying each account with Wells Fargo that Plaintiffs had claimed was opened without Plaintiffs’ authorization, including information regarding the owner of the account, the account type, the problem with the account, the

associated damages, and the Bates numbers of supporting documentation. ECF No. 39. In response to the Court’s order, Plaintiffs produced a chart with 30 rows of accounts, including 36 unique account numbers, to Defendant. ECF No. 51-11.

The chart purports to list the account numbers of the accounts that Defendant opened or conducted activity in without authorization, the owner(s) of the account, documentation to support the existence of and claims against the account, and a list

of alleged issues with the account. Id. There are several accounts listed in certain rows, and some accounts are listed multiple times. Id. In contrast, Defendant provides as an exhibit to its Motion for Summary Judgment the declaration of Karen Nelson, Operational Risk Consultant at Wells

Fargo, which states that Nelson has attached a “list of the opening and closing dates for all deposit accounts owned by Plaintiffs that was compiled from all account documents that have been located for the subject accounts after reasonable

investigation and subject to Wells Fargo’s document retention policies.” ECF No. 51-8 at 3. Defendant’s list of Plaintiffs’ accounts includes 19 accounts, with the earliest opened in 1998 and the latest closed on September 19, 2014. Id. Plaintiffs state that on January 17, 2012, Plaintiff Riad wrote to the bank’s

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RIAD v. WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., (E.D. Pa. 2020).

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