Young Soon Kim v. TD Ameritrade, Inc.

891 F. Supp. 2d 936, 77 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 704, 2012 WL 1932117, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73492
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 29, 2012
DocketNo. 11 C 6931
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 891 F. Supp. 2d 936 (Young Soon Kim v. TD Ameritrade, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Young Soon Kim v. TD Ameritrade, Inc., 891 F. Supp. 2d 936, 77 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 704, 2012 WL 1932117, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73492 (N.D. Ill. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ELAINE E. BUCKLO, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Young Soon Kim and II Joo Kim (the “Kims”) filed a two-count complaint against defendant TD Ameritrade, Inc. in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Both counts allege violations of Illinois Uniform Commercial Code (“Illinois UCC”), Articles 3 and 4. Count I alleges conversion of an instrument under 810 ILCS 5/34120, and Count II alleges improper charging of plaintiffs’ account under 810 ILCS 5/4-401. Defendant removed the action to this court. Defendant moves to dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the following reasons, defendant’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I.

At the heart of the Kims’ complaint are the actions of Peter Cho, who allegedly defrauded the Kims of more than $300,000. The Kims alleged that Cho held himself out as an expert in procuring foreclosed properties for investors, and that he convinced the plaintiffs to invest in a group of 200 two-flat homes with other investors, an investment that would require a capital contribution of around $550,000. Cho instructed the Kims to liquidate assets and to take a mortgage on their home in order to come up with the capital contribution. The Kims liquidated a mutual fund account for $123,217 and gave the funds to Cho, thinking that they were making an advance on the down payment for the real estate investment. The Kims also issued three checks to Cho, leaving the payee line blank as instructed by Cho, for amounts totaling $187,035.86. Cho did not make a down payment on a real estate investment.

Instead, Cho took the funds and opened a TD Ameritrade account in plaintiffs’ names. The Kims claim that Cho never told them that he was opening the account. To open the account, Cho allegedly used an address that was different from the Kims’ address, forged the signatures on the application, and included other inconsistent identifying information. The Kims claim that the forged signatures did not resemble the signature on the check used to open the account and that the address on the application also did not match the address on the check used to open the account. Cho was successful in opening the account notwithstanding language on the application stating that federal law requires financial institutions to verify identifying information used to open a new account. TD Ameritrade issued checks and a debit card in plaintiffs’ names to the address listed on the application.

Between September 2008 and March 2009, Cho allegedly used the funds in the account and almost depleted it by writing checks to himself and through online stock trades. Throughout this period, the Kims reportedly received no statements from TD Ameritrade, but they eventually learned of the account from their own bank in April 2009. Plaintiffs contacted TD Ameritrade and requested statements. The Kims then reported the fraud to TD Ameritrade and demanded that TD Ameritrade return their money. TD Ameritrade opened a fraud investigation but refused to return the money to the Kims.

II.

TD Ameritrade argues that it cannot be held liable to the Kims under Illinois UCC, Article 8, which protects securi[939]*939ties intermediaries from most adverse claimants. 810 ILCS 5/8-115. However, defendant fails to effectively argue why § 8-115 applies in this case. While it is true that the plaintiffs have not alleged in their complaint precisely what kind of account Cho opened with defendant, the Kims have alleged that TD Ameritrade issued checks and a debit card to Cho. The Kims further allege that Cho was able to use the checks to liquidate funds from the account. Article 8 defines a “securities intermediary” as (1) a clearing corporation, or (2) “a person, including a bank or broker, that in the ordinary course of its business maintains securities accounts for others and is acting in that capacity.” 810 ILCS 5/8-102(a)(14) (emphasis added). Defendant does not argue that it is a clearing corporation, and the requirement that defendant was acting in the capacity of a securities intermediary therefore applies. The fact that defendant issued checks and a debit card may not ultimately bar defendant’s reliance on § 8-115, but plaintiffs have pled facts that, taken as true, raise an issue as to whether defendant was acting as a securities intermediary or performing bank-like functions when it allowed Cho to use plaintiffs’ checks to open and fund the account or later to draw on the account.

Further, § 8-115 does not provide securities intermediaries with blanket immunity. As defendant recognizes, there are three statutory exceptions to the immunity provided by § 8-115. See 810 ILCS 5/8 — 115(1)—(3). Defendants skip an important step, however, by immediately jumping into their argument for why none of the three exceptions applies in this ease. Article 8 provides that:

“A securities intermediary that has transferred a financial asset pursuant to an effective entitlement order, or a broker or other agent or bailee that has dealt with a financial asset at the direction of its customer or principal, is not liable to a person having an adverse claim to the financial asset.”

810 ILCS 5/8-115. There is, therefore, a threshold question of whether it “transferred a financial asset pursuant to an effective entitlement order” or acted “at the direction of its customer or principal.” Id. “Entitlement order” and “effective entitlement order” are terms that are defined by statute. See 810 ILCS 5/8-102(a)(8) and 810 ILCS 5/8-107, respectively. An “effective entitlement order” must be made by “the appropriate person” or by someone “who has power under the law of agency.” 810 ILCS 5/8-107. Neither party has discussed what impact, if any, these broader limitations have on whether TD Ameritrade is protected by § 8-115. At a minimum, Count II alleges sufficient facts to state a claim that would evade Article 8 immunity. In their complaint, the plaintiffs allege that Cho wrote checks to himself, drawing on the funds in the TD Ameritrade account. Plaintiffs claim that these charges were not properly payable. In other words, plaintiffs allege that the payments to Cho were not “effective entitlement orders.” As such, I conclude that at this stage in the litigation, defendant has not shown that it is entitled to the protections of Article 8.

Defendant next argues that plaintiffs’ claim for conversion under 810 ILCS 5/3-420 (Count I) fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. To state a claim for conversion under § 3-420, a complaint must allege “(1) plaintiffs ownership of, interest in, or possession of the check; (2) the forged or unauthorized endorsement on the check; and (3) defendant bank’s unauthorized cashing of the check.” Nat’l Accident Ins. Underwriters, Inc. v. Citibank, F.S.B., 243 F.Supp.2d 763, 764 (N.D.Ill.2002).

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891 F. Supp. 2d 936, 77 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 704, 2012 WL 1932117, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/young-soon-kim-v-td-ameritrade-inc-ilnd-2012.