South Florida Man Sues Bank After Being Wrongfully Accused and Jailed

As a dedicated, comprehensive personal injury law firm, the experienced plaintiffs’ attorneys at the Law Offices of Aronberg & Aronberg deal with many different types of personal injury cases, from auto accidents and slip and falls to nursing home abuse and product liability cases. We go to court against those whose negligence or willful misconduct has caused our clients to experience damages, whether the negligent party is a distracted driver or a behemoth financial institution.

Generally, when a civil suit involves a bank, the damages incurred by the plaintiff have been monetary – perhaps the bank negligently withdrew money from the plaintiff’s account, perhaps the bank misplaced the plaintiff’s money, perhaps the bank negligently gave out the plaintiff’s personal account information.

Not in this case. The damages Mr. Gomez incurred were almost too severe to put a price tag on. Because of banking giant Wells Fargo & Company’s negligence, a South Florida man, Carlos Gomez, experienced the horror of having police bust into his home before the crack of dawn and whisk him away to prison, all reasons he was unaware of – reasons that proved to be based on faulty information given to the police by employees of Wells Fargo.

According to this NBC Miami article, during an investigation of a money laundering case, Wells Fargo told law enforcement officers that an account owned by Mr. Gomez was used for laundering the money in question. As a result, Mr. Gomez was (wrongfully) accused of money laundering and tossed in jail. His time behind bars was followed-up with a life-altering and humiliating house-arrest sentence. In all, an innocent man, Mr. Gomez, had nearly a life of his life stolen from him – undoubtedly, the rest of his life will be plagued by hardship due to a negligently damaged reputation and the ripple effects that such harm can cause.

As it turns out, the account in question was opened in Mr. Gomez’s name, but Mr. Gomez wasn’t the one who opened the account. You’d think that a bank with the resources of Wells Fargo would have the ability and wherewithal to ensure that somebody opening a bank account is indeed the individual whose information is being used to open the account. Furthermore, Wells Fargo had the knowledge of Mr. Gomez’ past banking experience – the last bank account he had with the bank had a balance of roughly $500 in it. The account fraudulently opened in his name, on the other hand, started with an initial balance of nearly $135,000. You’d think that would have rung a bell!

Mr. Gomez was finally able to prove his innocence when he came across, in a tucked-away box, banking documents from his prior bank that exonerated him. Were it not for his lucky find, Wells Fargo’s negligence would have gone unnoticed and an innocent man’s life would have been destroyed even more than it has been already. (In the end, it turned out to be an inside job; eventually, a Wells Fargo employee was arrested for laundering more than $1 million.)

Now, the innocent victim in this situation is seeking justice in the court system. Let’s hope that the law, which serves to maintain order and fairness in society, serves its purpose and allows Mr. Gomez to seek compensation for the terrible injustice he experienced at the hands of Wells Fargo.

If you have been wronged by the negligence of another individual or the wrongdoing of a company, call us for a free consultation. Let us tell you how we can help you. You can reach us at the Law Offices of Aronberg & Aronberg by phone at 561-266-9191 or by email at daronberg@build.simple.biz.

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