Someone Wrote A Fraudulent $33,000 Check On Auto Dealer's Bank Account; Chase Bank Took 3 Months To Fix It
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Have you checked your bank account recently? Imagine a big chunk of cash is missing. CBS 2 Morning Insider Lauren Victory played detective and dug into the case of a money mystery in Naperville, involving a really big check.
Thousands of miles away from his auto dealership, BG Motor Cars owner Noman Beg's vacation was ruined in August, when he checked his bank account, and saw a check had been written for $33,525. Beg said, the problem was, he never wrote that check.
"It was horrible. I mean, my wife, I couldn't keep it together. I mean, it was pretty bad," Beg said.
Beg said he believes someone stole a check out of his Naperville office.
"I did keep my checkbook in there," he said. "It's affected my bills. I had to shorten my inventory."
The gaping hole in his small business' budget burned, as Beg fought with Chase Bank for nearly three months.
Beg said the bank told him, "we're not refunding this, and the case is closed."
Then CBS 2 got involved, and after multiple calls and emails, Chase changed its tune, and refunded Beg the $33,525.
"This is a blessing," Beg said. "I can't be thankful enough for you guys."
CBS 2 tried to solve the mystery of who was responsible for the bad check, first by tracking down the owner of the construction company the check was written out to.
We finally reached a family member who promised to pass along our message.
The money refunded by Chase was removed from the construction company's account, presumably leaving a big hole. The owner never called back, but in a text exchange with Beg, claimed he got the check from a man who "said he is your partner."
The construction company owner's mother recently bought a car at BG Motor Cars.
Reached by phone, the construction company owner said, "I don't have anything to do with this."
When asked if police ever contacted him, he said "it's possible."
"I can't tell you for certain," he said. "I think they did."
The Will County Sheriff's Office said it has an open investigation into the check.
"I hope nobody ever goes through what I did," Beg said.
Chase Bank's advice? Protect your checks from theft.
As for why a check for more than $33,000 was not marked as fraud until CBS 2 started asking, Chase said the withdrawal was similar to other amounts taken out of the account.