Lawsuit: LA couple says BoA, Chase, Merrill Lynch should pay because imposters drained accounts

A Los Angeles couple have filed a lawsuit against Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Merrill Lynch for allegedly allowing imposters to drain their accounts of over $1 million. 

The suit was initially filed by plaintiffs Shangjin Chen and Danhong Chen in Los Angeles County Superior Court in November, but was removed by defendants to L.A. federal court on December 29.

The complaint claims that the banks' allegedly negligent conduct allowed an unidentified imposter to exploit security vulnerabilities in the couple's bank accounts. 

The fraudulent activities allegedly included deactivating linked phone numbers, manipulating account passwords, tampering with linked email addresses, and making unauthorized wire transfers to a Coinbase account. 

Despite these findings, the defendants allegedly have refused to accept responsibility or reimburse the lost funds.

The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the defendants to pay the couple at least $1 million, plus attorney fees.

The couple is represented by attorneys Daniel E. Park, Alisa M. Morgenthaler,  Jason H. Woltman, Wil J. Rios and Samuel F. Izzo, of the firm of Park LLP, of Glendale.