(MSNBC.com) For 28-year-old Ikenna Njoku, what should have been the simple act of cashing a check turned into four days in jail and the loss of his car and job.
A year ago Njoku, a construction worker, had just purchased his first home and qualified for a federal rebate for first-time home buyers on his tax return.
He says he requested to have the rebate deposited directly into his Chase bank account in Auburn, Wash., but when the IRS rebate arrived, he found out that Chase had closed his account because of overdrawn checks. The bank deducted $600 to cover what he owed and mailed Njoku a cashier’s check of $8,463.21 to make up the difference.
When Njoku arrived at the bank to cash the Chase check, he says the teller immediately became suspicious.
“When I walked in, the teller looked me up and down and asked if I worked for Chase,” he said. “She asked me questions like where did I get the check from. I sat there for half an hour while they researched the check.”
Njoku got impatient and said he would run an errand and return.
When he returned the bank was closed, so he says he called Chase’s customer service, who told him to return the next day. But when he did, bank officials insisted the check was fake. The police soon arrived to arrest Njoku on forgery charges. Njoku was held in jail four nights, even though Chase called the Auburn police detective handling the case and left a message saying the arrest was a mistake, according to Njoku’s lawyer. But it was that detective’s day off, so Njoku stayed in jail through the weekend. . .
Read more at MSNBC.com.
Photo: MSNBC.com
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