A customer at a US bank says $9,100 was mysteriously drained from his account even after he notified the lender about suspicious activity.
Military veteran Roberto Rangel says USAA then refused to reimburse his account – and demanded he pay a negative balance of $2,800 that was triggered by the theft, reports the Fox-affiliated news station KABB.
Rangel reportedly sold some of his prized possessions to pay the balance and maintain his credit score.
After the theft, which happened in December, Rangel says he spent months contacting USAA to get his retirement savings back, to no avail.
“I’m a 100% disabled veteran. I just can’t get up and go to work… I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get them to give me an answer.
It’s very stressful. You get the the point where you don’t know what to do.”
Rangel’s last move was to contact local news outlets.
Once KABB’s news team contacted the bank about Rangel’s case, the lender took another look, returned the money and released a statement.
“At times, based on the facts, we conclude we need to stand by our initial findings. If we find a mistake has been made, we’re committed to resolving the issue for our members.”
KABB says it has spoken to more than a dozen people with similar stories about USAA. The San Antonio-based lender has more than $2.569 billion in assets and more than 13 million members.