Wells Fargo Sued By 63-Year-Old Pastor They Wrongfully Accused of Forging Checks

Wells Fargo has been hit with a lawsuit from a 63-year-old pastor at the United Methodist Church of Parsippany. Wells Fargo sent his ATM photos to the police, which he says led to false arrest, malicious prosecution -- and humiliation. NJ.com reports:
In the lawsuit filed Thursday in Morris County Superior Court, attorneys for the 63-year-old pastor sought unspecified damages against Wells Fargo, which has come under fire over a series of scandals in recent years. Also named were the State Police detectives who originally brought the charges against him last year after bank security officials allegedly mistakenly identified a photo of Edwards taken at an ATM machine as a suspect in a series of fraudulent check deposits....
In the lawsuit, Edwards' attorney wrote that Wells Fargo notified the State Police when it discovered the bogus transactions, and the bank was asked to provide any still photos or video images taken from the ATM at Parsippany where some of the checks were deposited and later cashed out. The bank sent photos of Edwards, who had made his own deposit of checks at the same ATM the very same day, according to the complaint...
The pastor said he first discovered he was the focus of a criminal investigation last year after a parishioner texted him a State Police Facebook posting requesting the public's help identifying a man suspected of depositing fraudulent checks at an ATM... In an interview, Edwards said after seeing the post, he called the detectives and shared a copy of his banking transactions to show he had not deposited the fraudulent checks. 'I thought it would clear things up,' he said. 'They said all their information was from Wells Fargo...' Last September, Edwards said he was asked to come down to the State Police station in Holmdel. After he got there, he said he was shocked to find out he was being arrested and charged with third degree forgery. When he protested and said somebody made an error, he said one of the investigators asked him if the case did go to trial, who would the jury believe -- a bank security expert or him?
'They fingerprinted me. Took my mug shot and gave me a court date,' he said.

The case fell apart, but the 63-year-old pastor says he never received an apology from the police, or from Wells Fargo. 'The carelessness of both Wells Fargo and the State Police is kind of appalling, and I wonder what happens to somebody who might not have the resources to defend themselves,' the pastor told NJ.com. 'I told them yes that was my picture and yes I was in the bank that day. That's all they needed to arrest me.'

A spokesman for Wells Fargo told the reporter they'd be unable to comment 'since this is a pending legal matter.' But the story was submitted to Slashdot by someone claiming to be pastor Jeff Edwards. 'Wells Fargo carelessly provided ATM pictures [of] me to the state police in a fraudulent check investigation that led to my arrest,' reads the original submission.
'The case was dismissed when it was demonstrated that Wells Fargo had been grossly irresponsible.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.