Legal Battle Over €100,000 Fraudulent Withdrawals Set for Decision

A legal dispute involving the Fond za zaštitu depozita (FZD) and Crnogorska komercijalna banka (CKB) centers on claims for compensation amounting to €100,000 related to fraudulent withdrawals made by individuals using fake identification documents. The outcome of this case, which specifically addresses the payments made to impersonators of Atlas Banka customers at branches in Bar and Herceg Novi, is expected to be determined within a month.

Presiding Judge Itana Folić has rejected CKB’s request for additional IT expertise, which would have required the bank to provide original source codes and working versions of the application used for data exchange regarding Atlas Banka depositors. The judge assessed that such a move would unnecessarily prolong the proceedings and has concluded the primary hearing.

Claims of Negligence and Responsibility

The FZD argues that the bank failed to exercise adequate diligence when processing these transactions. According to their statements, CKB was only provided with the names and amounts due for payment, while the FZD maintains that additional information, including the depositors’ dates of birth, was also included.

Following the first unauthorized withdrawal, the FZD notified CKB to validate all provided information during future payments, highlighting a lack of ordinary care expected during identity verification processes. After the insolvency of Atlas Banka, the FZD facilitated the payment of guaranteed deposits up to €50,000 through four banks, including CKB, in accordance with deposit protection laws.

The first disputed payment occurred in May 2019 at the CKB branch in Bar, followed by a second payment in July at the Herceg Novi branch. The fraudulent nature of these transactions only became apparent after the legitimate depositor formally contested the withdrawals, claiming they had not authorized any such transactions. Similar issues arose at the Hipotekarna Banka, which had previously reached an out-of-court settlement with the FZD.

Expert Testimony and Bank Accountability

Forensic handwriting expert Mile Kontić could not definitively conclude whether CKB staff acted with the necessary care when processing the payments of €50,000 each to two individuals using counterfeit passports. Her findings confirmed that the passports belonging to Slađan Savić from Serbia and Lovro Gasparac from Croatia, used for the withdrawals, were indeed not authentic.

The FZD’s lawsuit emphasizes that bank employees should not require specialized knowledge to scrutinize the foreign passports in question. They contend that after the initial incident in Bar, all banks were alerted to the need for careful comparison of identification numbers. However, similar fraudulent activities were later reported at the Herceg Novi branch.

Subsequent investigations revealed discrepancies in the passport numbers, indicating that the perforated number did not match on both sides of the polycarbonate sheet and the visa pages. The lawsuit argues that the recurrence of such fraud highlights the bank’s increased liability, especially since CKB had been informed of the identification failures in Bar.

CKB contends that it acted with the required level of caution, verifying the passports and the information provided by the FZD, asserting that the individuals were entitled to the funds. They reference the Payment Transactions Law, which mandates a standard of ordinary care, claiming that their staff adhered to these regulations in both cases.

The dispute raises significant questions about the data management practices of the FZD and whether all necessary precautions were taken to prevent these incidents. As the case progresses, the implications for banking procedures and deposit protection measures in the region remain a critical focus.