A case dating back to 2015. A double transfer of 14,000 and 86,000 euros from a client couple of La Banque Postale to an ING account in Belgium. However, the transfer was falsified, the money transferred elsewhere… and the bank has always refused to reimburse. La Banque Postale will have to go to cash following a decision by the Court of Cassation.
At the beginning of July 2015, a couple sent their French bank two transfer orders of, respectively, 14,000 euros and 86,000 euros, to be executed from their joint La Banque Postale account to an account in the name of Madame, at the ING bank in Belgium. On transfer orders, all the information provided is correct.
But, at the end of July 2015, the 100,000 euros had still not been credited to their ING account in Belgium. And La Banque Postale informs them… that the money has been transferred to another account following a change in the IBAN number appearing on the transfer orders.
Then begins a legal battle which will last 8 years, and which finally finds its solution following the decision of the Court of Cassation rendered on June 1, 2023. The heart of the legal debate has revolved around the distinction between false, from the outset and falsified transfer order, as explained by The world in a legal column. An important distinction since it may or may not involve La Banque Postale’s liability.
Not an operation authorized by customers
A distinction which does not have to be made here, judges the Court of Cassation, thus quashing the judgment of the Court of Appeal: a regular transfer order when it was drafted but whose IBAN number of the recipient account was subsequently modified by a third party without the knowledge of the instructing party does not constitute an authorized operation. The transfer order – the name and account number of the beneficiary – was in fact indeed falsified later in its drafting by the customers.
Result: the Court of Cassation referred the case to the differently composed Paris Court of Appeal, thus paving the way for reimbursement of the 100,000 euros to the victim couple… more than 8 years after the events.
False adviser scam: the bank refuses to reimburse… is it legal?