JPMorgan sued by couple who claim company sold $10 million in jewels they left in safe deposit box

JPMorgan Chase&Co are facing the prospect of a massive lawsuit, as a couple have made big claims against the US financial services company.

JP Morgan is no stranger to having to pay out due to wrongdoings, with the company paying $920 million in 2020 as a result of criminal charges related to two distinct schemes to defraud.

And the most recent spot of bother they have got themselves get into is with a couple who claim that the bank sold $10 million in jewellery and other prized valuables they had stored in deposit boxes.

Jorge and Stella Araneta, who reside in the Philippines but have an apartment in New York, said that JP Morgan sent the bills for the boxes to the wrong address, which caused them to fall behind in their account, as per Bloomberg.

incamerastock / Alamy Stock Photo

In the filing, the couple claim that they they paid the delinquency in full after discovering it, with JPMorgan saying that they would return the expensive assets stored in the boxes.

However, the bank instead auctioned off the contents that were believed to be in the region of $10 million.

On Wednesday (22 March), US District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald did throw out one of the suits that came from 2022 under the New York baking law.

However, the case will still be proceeding with negligence and other counts which will have JP Morgan bosses worried.

In the suits that are still standing, the Aranetas claim they leased safe deposits at JPMorgan branches starting from 2006 in New York, and continued to renew them annually.

The bank would deduct payments from their accounts and send invoices and bank statements to addresses in New York and Miami.

Vedat Kandemir / Alamy Stock Photo

The couple claim that the bank mailed notices about the renewal of two of the boxes, warning that they would be drilled open and the contents removed if payment wasn't made in 60 days.

But those notices were apparently not sent to the New York or Miami addresses, but instead a PO box in Louisiana.

The suit claims that JPMorgan drilled into four boxes in February 2017 and removed the contents.

But the couple claim they only found out the boxes had been opened in October 2019, with the bank selling the contents at auction ten months later.

The Artanetas put the value of contents, which includes precious metals, jewellery and coins, between $8 and $10 million.

UNILAD has contacted JPMorgan for a comment.