Ontario man who accidentally transferred $19,000 to stranger's account left for weeks without solution
An Ontario man says he has been fighting to get back $19,000 for months after making a "simple mistake” while trying to transfer money between two of his bank accounts.
Milton, Ont. man Roberto Guardado said he had just purchased a new home and in September was trying to transfer money from his Bank of Montreal (BMO) account to his CIBC account so that he could make the down payment.
He said he called BMO to arrange the wire transfer, figuring it would be the easiest way to move the funds to CIBC.
Guardado said he has two bank accounts with CIBC, one for his personal savings and one for business. He was trying to transfer the money into the savings account.
He said while making the transfer, he correctly read out his CIBC savings account number, but mistakenly gave the transit number of his CIBC business account.
The five-digit transit number helps the bank identify which branch the money is being sent to.
The mistake resulted in Guardado's money being sent to a stranger's CIBC account, he said.
"I noticed the money went out but it didn't go into my CIBC account," Guardado told CTV News Toronto. "So I went home that day and I started looking on my computer and then I realized I gave the wrong transit number."
He said he immediately called BMO, who told him they would launch an investigation.
Despite calling the bank every few days for an update, he said it took five weeks before he got any answers.
Guardado said he was told that his $19,000 was deposited into someone else's account and the person had withdrawn it.
He said both BMO and CIBC told him nothing further could be done to retrieve his money.
"I couldn't believe I made the mistake," Guardado said.
Guardado said he called the police, but was also told that because he initiated the transfer there was nothing to investigate.
A Bank of Montreal sign is pictured in North Vancouver, B.C. Tuesday, April, 2, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
"The police told me that because it's not considered fraud they can't do anything about it," he said.
'JUST A SIMPLE MISTAKE'
Guardado said that while he fully admits the error was his fault, he doesn't understand why the bank couldn't help him quickly reverse the transfer.
"It was just a simple mistake and my money ended in someone else's account," Guardado said.
Because of the lost money, Guardado said he had no choice but to back out of the sale of his new home.
Shortly after CTV News Toronto contacted CIBC and BMO about Guardado's situation, he said he received a call from the banks telling him his $19,000 would be returned to his account.
CIBC spokesperson Trish Tervit confirmed on Saturday they had resolved the issue with Guardado.
"It's important that when transferring funds between financial institutions that the sender ensures the recipient account number is correct as misdirected funds may be difficult to recover," Tervit added.
Guardado said CIBC told him this is a "unique situation" that is being resolved on a one-time basis.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from BMO said they had a "good conversation" with Guardado, but couldn't comment further for privacy reasons.
While this stressful two-month chapter is now over for Guardado, he said banks "have to come up with a better system" for when people make mistakes.
"It was a stupid mistake on my part, but the process to fix it has to be easier," he said. "I was so stressed that I lost weight and I couldn't sleep. It was bothering me so much."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.