Popular Mexican Singer Sues Wells Fargo Accusing 2 Former Employees Of Stealing $400K
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Ana Barbara is one of the leading voices in the world of Latin music.
Today that voice was shaky when she talked to CBS2's Randy Paige about a lawsuit she has just filed.
Barbara, a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter, is suing Wells Fargo.
Paige reports Barbara is accusing two former employees of the bank of ripping her off to the tune of about $400,000.
"They betrayed me," she said, "I didn't know what to do."
According to a lawsuit her attorneys filed this week, Barbara's bank accounts were drained by two Wells Fargo employees who the suit alleged stole her identity and then the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"All of her cash all of her liquid assets," says Devin McRae, Barbara's attorney, " put yourself in that position and consider it gone."
According to the lawsuit, Wells Fargo responded by saying they would not reimburse her for more than $250,000 because she had not notified them of the theft within 60 days of her receiving bank statements showing the unauthorized transfers.
Her lawyer says the statements never got to Barbara -- the thieves made sure of that.
"It's particularly egregious when it is the bank that is responsible for the consumer not getting the statements and having the opportunity to review the statements," McRae said.
Wells Fargo responded with a short written statement which says "We are not able to comment on customer relationships or ongoing litigation."
The bank also told Paige the two employees named in the lawsuit are no longer working for Wells Fargo.
"This shouldn't happen to anybody," Barbara said in Spanish. She says the incident has destroyed her trust. "And that is horrible," she said.
She told Paige she was telling her story to tell people they can and should fight back if they are also victims.