Jewels, cash worth $556K missing from safety deposit box

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. - A Citibank customer says she dropped off more than half-a-million dollars in cash and jewelry at her safety deposit box before going on vacation and came back to find it all gone, reports CBS Los Angeles.

The woman, who only wanted to be identified as Janna for security reasons, said it happened at a Citibank branch in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

"It's not replaceable, what's been stolen from me, stolen from my heart," she told the station.

Janna said she dropped off 43 pieces of custom jewelry, family heirlooms, watches and cash totaling $556,000 before she and her husband headed on a 3-week vacation in June.

When she went to the bank two weeks ago and realized everything was gone, Janna says her heart stopped.

No one besides Janna had signed to access the box and only she and the bank have keys. Both keys supposedly have to be used simultaneously to open the box, reports the station.

Diana Aizman, Janna's attorney, says the LAPD took a report but she was told Citibank was tasked with investigating the matter themselves.

That's something she and Janna don't trust, according to CBS Los Angeles.

Aizman said she was told surveillance video in the bank only captures the vault entrance, not the boxes, which are not insured.

She said her client has been treated like a criminal.

"We have nothing to gain, no reason to lie. These were uninsured items, that's the reason they were in the box, they were uninsured," Janna said.

A Citibank spokesperson said the bank can't comment on the case, but that it generally takes any lost content claim very seriously, and that investigators not from the branch in question are looking into the matter.