TD Canada Trust has refunded money it abruptly took from a Toronto senior’s bank account in 2015, three days after a Global News report about how the woman was the victim of a mail fraud.
Leslie Milligan, 82, fell victim to a marketing scam in which she was told she had won $1.6 million (US). As part of the ruse, fraudsters mailed a cheque for· $16,482.68 which Milligan deposited into her account at TD Canada Trust in Etobicoke. The branch shut down late last year.
Milligan says she was instructed to send part of the proceeds of the cheque to an address and keep the balance. She did, waiting first for the cheque to clear with TD Canada Trust, which it did. Milligan was told she would later receive the balance of the lottery winnings, which never happened.
But after sending off the money on Milligan’s instructions, TD Canada Trust later declared the original cheque a counterfeit with no value. It held Milligan accountable for the loss and froze her account, even though the bank had cleared the cheque initially.
READ MORE: TD Bank clears senior’s cheque, then drains her account
“I’m the victim here, why are they asking me to pay it?” Milligan told Global News.
Milligan’s friend, a lawyer, went to police to report the fraud and asked TD Canada Trust not to penalize Milligan, who says she believed the original cheque was bona fide. The bank held firm in its position.
“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anybody,” Milligan said, explaining the frozen account and financial travails contributed to a heart attack she suffered subsequently.
“They took every dime she had. They didn’t care,” said next-door neighbour Kim MacIntyre, another friend who tried to help Milligan when her bank account was frozen.
“Who does that?”
TD Canada Trust declined to speak on camera about its decision but communicated by telephone with Global News and offered written statements.
“We are sympathetic to Ms.Milligan and her situation and we were in contact with her on several occasions in response to her concerns. It is important for customers to be aware, know who they are doing business with, and ask questions if they are unsure, in order to protect their financial well-being,” said Ana Aujla, manager of corporate and public affairs with TD Bank Group.
“Following further review, we are in contact with Ms. Milligan and will be issuing a reimbursement as a gesture of goodwill given that she misunderstood the clearing process. We appreciate the opportunity to further educate consumers on this topic.”
Aujla earlier explained a cheque, even if cleared by the bank, can be a consumer’s responsibility later.
“Clearing a cheque is the process for moving funds from one financial institution to another, not for verifying the authenticity of the cheque. It is important for customers to know who they are doing business with and to verify that a cheque is legitimate before they release funds from their own accounts. The Canadian Payments Association allows a maximum hold of five days, however a cheque can come back as fraudulent at any time.”
On Friday, TD Canada Trust put $11,425.52 into Milligan’s account and forgave another $5,057.16 the bank had been pursuing through collection proceedings. The two amounts add up to the total for which Milligan was held liable after the fraudulent cheque bounced.
However, the bank refused to pay any interest on the amount it took from her account, likely less than $100. Had Milligan owed the bank that amount, she believes she would have been ordered to pay interest.
Still, Milligan is grateful the ordeal is over.
“Thank you for everything you did,” she told Global News, standing beside Kim McIntyre, who said senior citizens should get better treatment than Milligan did.
“They shouldn’t be targets for fraud and they shouldn’t be targets in our banking system.”
* Kyle Edwards contributed to this report.