Private investigator Nick Mayer speaks about his role in trying to recover $100,000 a client of his lost in a scam.
Video / Jason Oxenham
ASB has offered a scam victim who lost $100,000 a “goodwill” payment of $2000 as full and final settlement but warned he won’t be able to pursue a Banking Ombudsman complaint against the company if he accepts the money.
He hired private investigator Nick Mayer who allegedly tracked his stolen money to the now frozen BNZ account of a respected JP then drove to the man’s house to confront him.
And despite Mayer handing a dossier of evidence to police about the JP’s alleged involvement - including a secret recording in which the man claims the money has been invested in Bitcoin - officers are yet to interview the suspect nearly six months after being alerted to the fraud.
A detective constable has told the victim she and other fraud investigators have now been seconded to a homicide operation and are unlikely to resume work on the scam case until next month.
“I’ll endeavour to update you every couple [of] weeks – although the update may be ‘there are no updates’,” she wrote.
The officer also blamed delays on the banks, which she claims are yet to hand over information despite being served with court production orders - a claim both ASB and BNZ deny.
The victim is frustrated by the lack of action. He fears the JP is acting as a “mule” for offshore organised crime syndicates and may be targeting other unsuspecting investors while police fail to act.
“I have lost my life savings and believe this justice of the peace is a willing money mule.
“The police don’t have the resources and that’s why they’re coming up with excuses.”
A screenshot of the victim's initial $50,000 online money transfer, referencing "BNP Paribas" as the payee.
The victim was tricked into sending two $50,000 online payments to the scammers via his ASB account in June, writing “BNP Paribas” in the payee field.
The FMA had warned of the scam last year and BNP Paribas issued its own warning a week before the transfers.
The victim believes ASB should have been on notice and claims it was negligent in failing to pick up on the payee reference to a known investment scam.
ASB says payee name fields are only for customers’ reference and “not used by our system when processing transactions”.
In a final response letter last month, ASB told the victim it was sorry for his loss but wasn’t liable “because you authorised the transactions”.
After being alerted to the scam on July 20, ASB tried unsuccessfully to recover the stolen funds.
Though ASB had systems which monitored for suspicious activity, “the transfers you made did not alert the bank’s fraud detection system”.
Although ASB wasn’t liable, “we would genuinely like to reach a fair and reasonable resolution to your complaint”.
The bank offered a “goodwill gesture payment” of $2000.
“Acceptance of the offer would be in full and final settlement of your complaint. You would not be able to pursue your complaint with the Banking Ombudsman Scheme.”
A fake online "client portal" purportedly showing the victim's $100,000 bond investment earning interest. It was all a fraud.
The victim told the Herald the offer was a joke. In his opinion it was an attempt to silence him and prevent him opening ASB to further scrutiny.
In a statement, however, ASB denied this was the case.
A spokeswoman said ASB backed the Banking Ombudsman Scheme as an independent dispute resolution service.
“Our offer of a small goodwill gesture was made in an effort to reach an outcome to what has been an awful experience for the customer and to bring the complaint to a close.
“It’s important to note this offer was not made on the basis that the customer withdraw his complaint to the Banking Ombudsman.”
Banking Ombudsman Scheme rules stipulated that complaints could not be considered if they were already resolved with the customer’s bank.
“We believe it is important to point out to a customer their acceptance of any offer made means the complaint could not be pursued through the Banking Ombudsman Scheme dispute process.”
If the customer preferred to pursue a complaint, ASB worked with the Banking Ombudsman to provide all relevant information.
The spokeswoman said there was nothing about the victim’s two transactions that flagged them as suspicious.
BNP Paribas was a large multinational company and ASB was constantly transacting with global banks.
“The name of a bank would not, in and of itself, flag with our systems as unusual and it is not possible for us to screen simply for another bank’s name, given the large number of legitimate customer transactions this would stop.”
A police spokesman said officers were making “positive inquiries” in the complex investigation.
Police acknowledged the victim’s concerns and frustrations but were committed to resolving the case.
