GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — SunTrust Bank is citing a bank error hours after a customer came to Channel 2 Action News for help regarding a fraudulent, over-the-counter withdrawal from his account.
Jerod Sutton went inside a Norcross branch on February 16 to withdraw $3,000 from his checking account. About 15 minutes after he left the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard location, he received an account alert through his SunTrust app.
"I see the fraudulent withdrawal of $3,717.43," Sutton told Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr. "Someone made a withdrawal 14 minutes after I left the bank."
Carr examined the withdrawal slips which appeared in Sutton’s app. Someone by a different name and with different handwriting provided a teller a slip to withdraw that money on the same day.
There was another common denominator on the top of each slip.
“The same teller initialed my withdrawal slip and the fraudulent withdrawal slip,” Sutton said.
Sutton called Channel 2 Action News this week after he said he was dissatisfied with SunTrust's response. They created a fraud case number for Sutton but told him it would take 10 days to investigate.
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Meanwhile, SunTrust began transferring money out of Sutton’s savings account to cover overdrawn bank fees in the checking account. That’s because there wasn't enough money in the account to cover the second cash withdrawal.
Sutton said he was on the verge of having his accounts closed because of the mishap, and by the 11th day, still wasn’t getting answers.
“They just keep giving me the runaround,” Sutton told Carr. “It sucks.”
Soon after Channel 2 Action News got involved, Sutton began recovering his money.
A spokesperson initially provided Carr the following statement:
While we are not at liberty to discuss a specific client relationship, I am in the process of getting appropriate people involved to review the matter as quickly as possible. Any communications specific to this matter will be done directly with the client.
Then shortly before the close of business Wednesday afternoon, SunTrust admitted to a bank error.
Sutton said they immediately refunded his accounts $1,600, and a message left by a bank representative explained how the additional funds would be replaced.
The bank declined to comment on whether a teller was behind the handwritten withdrawal slip, and Sutton said that is something he wants answered this week while he determines whether he should pursue criminal charges.