‘I have no money’: Thousands of Americans see their savings vanish

[RE]

This should serve as a reminder to everyone that once you deposit your money in a bank, unless you have put it in a safe deposit box, it's no longer your money.  You have effectively made an UNSECURED loan to the bank.  If/When said bank goes Belly-Up, the depositors are the LAST people to get paid when the Bankruptcy judge starts divvying up the banks assets amongst its creditors, all of whom have higher standing than a peon depositor.

This case is of course a blatant and obvious fraud, but neatly enough constructed using corporate law that unless they can figure out who stole the money and what he did with it nobody will even see any jail time, besides the fact these folks have been bilked out of their life savings.

A further reminder to stay away from new & tricky financial set-ups in the banking and investment biz.  Stick to well established Credit Unions with a history longer than 20 years, preferably 30.  Any financial organization set up since the turn of the millenium has a high probability of being a scam.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/22/synapse-bankruptcy-thousands-of-americans-see-their-savings-vanish.html

'I have no money': Thousands of Americans see their savings vanish in Synapse fintech crisis

RE

[TDoS]

This should serve as a reminder to everyone that once you deposit your money in a bank, unless you have put it in a safe deposit box, it's no longer your money. 

RE

The article seems to indicate that Fintech was the underlying problem...not necessarily the bank. The wife is quite adament about these services that will loan you money pre-paycheck, and institutions that "pretend" to handle your money when in fact they are playing their own games in the market and only design their marketing material to look like a government back entity.

As usual it is a buyer beware....and the article didn't mention how many FDIC accounts had ever not been backed by the government when the bank itself suffered issues. Up to the stated limits anyway.

[RE]

Yah, that's where the fraud comes in.  The intermediary obviously designed their pitch and promotion to customers to make them believe they were depositing their money in an FDIC insured account.  Otherwise I doubt most of these folks would have deposited their money with them.  These weren't risk taking people.  If I was a lawyer, I'd be suing whoever it was that got these folks to open an account with them.  That person also probably believed the account was FDIC insured, which means you have to name the directors of the company in the lawsuit.  If you can prove they knowingly committed fraud, the coporate shield for liability evaporates.  The tricky part is proving that, of course, and the money has apparently been disappeared expertly.  It's gotta be somewhere though.  They need a good forensic accountant.  They should look up The Accountant.

RE

[K-Dog]

Scary stuff, I use established banks.  Banks where FDIC insurance is not an issue.  Brick and mortar places where you can walk through a door.  Online banks give a better %, but the possibility of fintech is there, and banking digitally is scary.  Loosing $200K is loosing years of work.  A life's work.

Find out who took the money, then let Luigi out and give him a list.

I have one investment account that deals in short term bonds.  It is supposed to be very safe, and it is at a nationally known bank.  I'd prefer a fixed interest where the principal is FDIC insured.  Such an account is not available at this bank with anything but token interest.  My desire to earn 4 or 5% on my stash makes me a fucking imperialist.  I admit it.  Walking on the wild side with my stash I am.

Elon watched this as a baby.  You know he did.  And the global south is involved in earning my 5% somewhere.  You know it.  So how about some municipal bonds?  I talk about money having a brain.  Mine is telling me it wants to grow.  Which of us will be smarter?

[TDoS]

My desire to earn 4 or 5% on my stash makes me a fucking imperialist.  I admit it.  Walking on the wild side with my stash I am.

Locally that is available on checking account balances with one condition, you run at least 15 online/card charges a month through the account. So we park plenty of cash there but use it for McDonalds purchases, Dr co-pays, fountain drinks at convenience stores, little crap. The interest more than pays for all the little crap, it is quite a nice scheme. Collect the 4.875% a month on whatever is in there. Seems reasonable for decent chunks of money, but obviously real "investments" aren't looking for just those kinds of returns.