Man mulls legal action after $2.3M vanishes from Scotiabank account

Mar 12, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News- A Scotiabank customer is contemplating legal recourse after it was discovered that in excess of $2.3 million disappeared from a bank account he jointly shares with his sister.

The account holder, Lensworth Blair detailed his harrowing experience in an interview aired by journalist Travis Chase on Tuesday. Blair is calling on the bank to sort the matter out soonest.

Blair explained that the situation unfolded earlier this month, when he discovered that significant sums of cash had been withdrawn from an account held by himself and his sister.  According to the man, the situation has caused the family much distress and anxiety.

Kaieteur News contacted officials for Scotiabank for a comment but efforts were futile.

In the meantime, Blair explained that he was only added to the account on January 28, 2025.  “This account was held by my sister but she joined me to it, reason being to assist her with accessing the cash,” Blair explained.

The man said that before his name could be added to the account, the bank asked that they produce a list of documents and they complied with the request.

“We had to get things like letter of employment, source of funds etc. and after it was over, we were able to complete the process by the January 28. On January 31, my sister asked me to get to some money for her. I went to bank’s Carmichael Street branch and did a withdrawal. At that time, the slip looked fairly okay.  It’s an account that has a couple millions of dollars inside,” Blair explained.

He noted that his sister asked him to make another withdrawal on March 3, 2025 and this is when he noticed that a significant amount was missing from the account.

Blair said he immediately contacted his sister to find out whether she had made any withdrawals. The man said that his sister replied in the negative, which made him suspicious of the transaction.

“I know her condition would not allow that to happen. In fact, that is why she joined me to the account for ease of access to the cash. Now, I thought it might have been a little glitch… maybe I picked up the wrong slip etc. However, on the morning of the 4^th I was passing the Robb Street Branch and decided to make a little check and when the actual receipt came out it was $500,000 less than what came out Monday when I made that initial withdrawal.

Recognizing that something was amiss, Blair said that he visited the bank’s main office on Carmichael Street where he lodged a complaint.

The man recounted that, “A young lady who asked me a set of questions said to me that the pin and card on the account was changed sometime in February.  I asked how that is possible; don’t we need to produce proof of ID and those kinds of things to make the changes?”

Further, given that it is a joint account, the man reasoned that the bank could have at least called one of the parties to find out what is happening. Blair said that given that his questions were not being answered satisfactorily by the junior staff, he was able to speak with a supervisor who told him that the matter is being investigated.

“This was on March 4^th. I wrote a letter addressed to the Manager of the Bank. Someone signed for the letter and the Manager called me on the said day and asked that I give her until Friday where she said the investigation will be concluded,” he recalled.

The man said he waited until Friday but he received no call from the Manager.

“I began to call her phone around 10, 11, 12 times knowing that the bank would be closed around 2:30 and after I got no response from her, I just went into the bank myself. The supervisor spoke to me and gave me the same old story. She even asked if I know a person by the name of ‘Sharen Blair’ which sounded a little close to my sister who is Sharon Blair. I told her no,” he recalled.

He said his sister even tried to use her card at the bank and was told that the bank card is no longer working.

The man said that he is now being told that he will need to wait at least 120 days for a thorough investigation to be concluded and the bank has given no reassurance when the money will be refunded. In the interim, Blair said his sister is becoming increasingly worried.

“…For my sister, this money was part of her retirement plan,” the frustrated man said while noting that the situation calls for wider public condemnation as many persons have come forward sharing similar experiences.

He appealed to those affected by similar situations to come forward. Blair is of the view that unless the customers force the banks to make the changes to the system that would better safeguard their finances; there will be numerous other occurrences.

“Suppose this was a situation where I was sick and needed that money. I am being told I need to wait 120 days when they will complete their investigation, and added to this, it is not that they are telling me that you will get back the money…”

Further, Blair contends that the bank is wholly liable for the disappearance of the money from the joint account.

“Scotiabank is not a small bank…it is connected to a larger bank in Canada called the Bank of Nova Scotia and it has a lot of security features. And it worries me; this can happen at a bank that is international with so many protocols and features. So, I believe that persons in the bank had something to do with it, not necessarily the hierarchy of the bank…” he opined.

He continued: “Although, the government is asking us (the citizens) to have our salary to come through the bank…[and] the bank is not securing our cash or it cannot guarantee that our money in the bank is safe.”

Blair revealed that in the interim, he is working with his lawyer to ensure that the bank reimburses the missing money.

(Man mulls legal action after $2.3M vanishes from Scotiabank account)

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• bank regulation, missing cash, Scotiabank, Security

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