Ocean Bank Sued After Reportedly Firing Employee Who Reported Suspicious Banking Activity, The Law Office Of Pelayo Duran and Hannah & Jankowski Representing The Plaintiff

MIAMI, FL, November 12, 2010 (Press-News.org) The Law Office of Pelayo Duran in Miami together with the Plantation law firm of Hannah & Jankowski are representing a former Ocean Bank executive who claims managers showed favoritism to employees of Venezuelan descent and fired her in retaliation for reporting suspicious banking transaction activity involving a wealthy Venezuelan customer.

Niurka Sanchez was a Private Banking Officer in the Wealth Management Division who handled an impressive $60 million portfolio. She had been employed with the bank for more than 25 years and claims she was never disciplined.

According to Sanchez's attorneys, Pelayo Duran and Rod Hannah, things changed after A. Alfonos Macedo became president of Ocean Bank in 2008. Macedo was previously CEO of Banco Plaza in Caracas, Venezuela.

"The culture of Ocean Bank changed to one favoring employees and officers of Venezuelan national origin," said Duran. "My client who is Cuban-American began to notice that she was being singled out and treated differently."

In the lawsuit, Sanchez further claimed she brought to the attention of Ocean Bank's managers suspicious activities related to foreign transactions under the Banking Secrecy Act (BSA) involving a customer the bank considered a "politically exposed person."

Attorneys Duran and Hanna said Sanchez began gathering the proper materials and alerted her managers to the suspicious activity, including the bank President Macedo. The lawsuit states that Macedo informed Ms. Sanchez that what she had done was "improper and that she should not have reported the transactions because one of the parties involved was an intimate friend" of Macedo's family "who would customarily engage in transactions of this sort."

"She grew increasingly suspicious with the activity in the account as large amounts of dollars had been flowing from another bank owned by Ocean Bank's principals into the suspect accounts with Ocean Bank," said Duran, "and that the funds were being routinely transferred to offshore banks with conflicting information and without the supporting documentation."

According to the lawsuit, Sanchez attempted to follow the BSA's "Know You Customer" (KYC) requirements involving Macedo's family friend, but the account holder was evasive in responding to inquiries for which she had documented her suspicions.

"After learning the information, it is believed Ocean Bank subsequently and illegally removed all evidence of the plaintiff's reporting compliance to cover up the suspicious activity and potentially illegal activity and transactions," said Duran. "She objected and refused to remove her documentation reporting suspicious activity involving banking and money transfer transactions with certain Venezuelan nationals."

The complaint states after returning from Venezuela Sanchez added another $1.2 million to her large portfolio. Sanchez claims Macedo began reducing her responsibilities and redistributing client accounts to officers and employees of Venezuelan descent.

The complaint also states Sanchez felt she was owed an explanation and believed she was being discriminated against in favor of Venezuelan-descent employees, so she met with the bank's Vice President of Human Resources and a senior manager Yuni Navarro who explained to Sanchez that her 25 years of service to the bank were no longer useful, instead Navarro told her that her seniority was an obstacle, and, under the new administration, she would have to start from scratch.

"After sharing her concerns with another manager who took no action, my client was eventually stripped of all of her clients," said Duran. "She was demoted to the International Banking Center. Later, she was informed that she was being terminated in a company-wide layoff. This was merely a pretext and cover-up for the actual discrimination and retaliation she had endured."

Sanchez is asking for lost back pay and benefits, compensatory damages, punitive damages as well as costs and attorney's fees.

Based in Miami, Florida, The Law Office of Pelayo Duran represents clients in employment discrimination, personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability, bankruptcy and finance, criminal law, and traffic law. To learn more about the firm, visit www.pelayoduran.com or call 305-266-9780.