Man Dressed As Darth Vader Robs N.C. Bank

North Carolina police are hunting for a robber who held up a bank in Pineville, North Carolina, while wearing a Darth Vader costume. The incident happened on Monday, March 16th, states cbsnews.com.

The “Star Wars” character came into the Pineville State Employees Credit Union that Monday, WSOC reported.  Police say he demanded cash while he pointed a long gun at a bank teller, according to nydailynews.com.

He left in a gray Chevy Suburban with an undisclosed amount of cash, states cbsnews.com.  No one inside the bank was injured.

(Updated article)

Canadian Couple Sues U.S. Sperm Bank For Misrepresentation Of Donor

Canadians Angela Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson thought they were opting for a highly educated man with an “impressive health history” when they selected a donor from a U.S.-based sperm bank to start their family, states The Globe And Mail.

However, now the couple is seeking damages for pain, suffering, and financial losses from the company Xytex Corporation in a lawsuit filed in a Georgia court last week.

Years after the birth of their son, the Port Hope, Ontario, the couple learned that they hadn’t been told their donor was a schizophrenic college dropout with a criminal record, the couple claims.

It could become a “class action lawsuit” – the Canadian couple isn’t the only one affected by the situation, according to Hersh.  The suit states the donor appears to have fathered 36 children and Hersh said she had at least 15 other clients who may join the suit.

More:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-couple-sues-us-sperm-bank-for-alleged-false-donor-details/article23810189/

What Is The Deal With HSBC Bank?

HSBC launders billions for global terrorists and cartels, according to Majority Report.

British lawmakers plan to call up the bosses of HSBC and the tax authority, HMRC, to ask them about allegations that some clients of HSBC’s Swiss private bank evaded tax, according to Reuters.

HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint and HMRC Chief Executive Lin Homer are expected to appear on Feb. 25 before the Treasury Committee of lawmakers, who watch over the financial industry.

According to Reuters, HSBC admitted failings in compliance and controls in its Swiss private bank after media reports alleged it helped wealthy customers conceal millions of dollars of assets in a period up to 2007.

Majority Report

Couple Wins $1M Suit Against Major Bank Over Loan Collection Call Harassment

According to Yahoo, Bank of America is being forced to hand over more than $1 million to a Florida couple after the bank flooded them with hundreds of loan collection calls for years.

In a complaint filed in July, attorneys for Nelson and Joyce Coniglio said that the couple had been on the receiving end of “patterns of outrageous, abusive and harassing conduct” by a subsidiary of Bank of America that included 700 calls in four years, after the bank said the couple fell behind on mortgage loan payments in 2009.

The Coniglios also received “threatening collection letters asserting false and misleading information,” the complaint said.

The couple sent multiple letters from legal representation asking the bank to stop, but the calls — sometimes up to five a day — continued.

In the end, a Florida judge awarded the couple $1,051,000 — approximately $1,500 for every call — in addition to court costs and attorney fees.

“This judgment against Bank of America is an epic win for consumers across the country,” Billy Howard, an attorney for the Coniglios told ABC News. “It’s time to fight back against these ‘robo-bullies’.”

The Coniglios’ case was not the first time Bank of America has faced accusations of intense harassment by phone.

In September 2013, the bank paid a record $32 million to settle a class action lawsuit with a reported 7.7 million customers who claimed they were harassed by such “robocalls.” In that case, Bank of America said it denied the allegations but settled to avoid further legal costs.

“We would be out at dinner and they would ring my mother’s cellphone,” son Jason Coniglio told the Tampa Bay Times, “then they would call my dad’s cellphone and then when we got back to the house, there would be another message on the answering machine.”

At their wits end, the couple sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act.

“‘Once a debt collector is told to stop calling, whether it be in writing or verbally, it doesn’t make a difference,” said David Mitchell, one of the family’s attorneys.

Bank of America, which lost the case because it missed the deadline to oppose the lawsuit, maintains that the calls were to help the Coniglios avoid foreclosure

“Every call after that is considered a willful violation of the (law.)”

Bank of America ended up missing a deadline to oppose the lawsuit, and the Coniglios won by default in October.

Last week the judge dismissed the bank’s attempt to set aside the default judgment and awarded the couple $1,051,000 – approximately $1,500 for every call – in addition to court costs and attorney fees.

More:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2870944/Couple-wins-1-million-lawsuit-against-Bank-America-harassment-receiving-700-robocalls-4-years.html#ixzz3LhfpWYi3

Bank Robber Dresses As Terrorist

A man dressed as a terrorist is wanted for five actual robberies and one attempted robbery in four states between February of 2012 and this past August. The man’s nickname is “The AK-47 Bandit.”

Police believe the variety of surveillance video from the robberies—and a voice recording—may help the public identify this criminal. “We truly believe that someone knows this suspect, whether they are familiar with his physique, his voice, his vehicle, or even some of the apparel he’s wearing during the robberies,” said Bill Lewis, assistant director in charge of our Los Angeles Field Office during a 2013 press conference announcing the reward offer.

The AK-47 Bandit is believed to have called in a false bomb threat before his February 29, 2012 bank robbery in Chino, California.

Anyone with information about the AK-47 Bandit’s identity or whereabouts is urged to contact investigators at the toll-free number 1-800-CALL-FBI or send an e-mail to bandit@chinopd.org. Information can be provided confidentially.

Bank surveillance photographs of the vehicle and the suspect can be found at the Chino Police Department’s website: http://www.chinopd.org. Additional bank surveillance photos and videos can be found on the FBI’s wanted poster.