NEW YORK - A man was charged with withdrawing $2 million from an account after a bank confused him with a man who has the same name. Benjamin Lovell was arraigned Tuesday on grand larceny charges. The 48-year-old salesman said he tried to tell officials at Commerce Bank in December that he did not have a $5 million account.

Lovell said he was told it was his and he could withdraw the money.

Prosecutors said the bank — which advertises itself as America's Most Convenient Bank — confused Lovell with a Benjamin Lovell who works for a property management company.

The lesser-funded Lovell gave away some of the withdrawn money and blew some of it on gifts, but lost much of it on bad investments, prosecutors said.

The district attorney's office did not immediately have information on his lawyer. Calls left with Commerce Bank on Wednesday were not immediately returned.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080220/aponfest/oddbankerrorarrest

 

Grand larceny: mistaken identity withdrawal leads to criminal charge after bank error and dissipation of funds. A defendant was charged with grand larceny after withdrawing funds that a bank credited to an account due to customer identity confusion; he allegedly told staff he did not own the account but was allowed to withdraw the money, which he partly gave away, spent on gifts, and largely lost on investments.