FULL VIDEO AT THE END OF THE POST
A Daughter's Missing Savings
Ms. Kane, the plaintiff, appeared in court with her husband.
She explained that she had opened a Certificate of Deposit (CD) when she was around 16 years old.
Her mother, Ms. Friedman, the defendant, had to be a joint owner on the CD because Ms. Kane was a minor.
The money for the CD came from Ms. Kane's first job.
She had saved $1,200 in $100 bills in her bedroom.
Her father suggested it would be safer to put the money in the bank.
Ms. Kane went to the bank with her mother to open the account.
She stated they signed the papers and let the money sit there.
The Search for the Money
Last year, Ms. Kane tried to close the CD.
She and her husband had recently married and wanted to buy a home.
She had been looking for the money since last September.
Ms. Kane asked her mother about the missing funds.
The bank initially told her they had no information.
Ms. Kane thought the bank was trying to cheat her.
She then started asking for help from various sources.
She first went to the Texas bank where the CD was opened.
She discovered that the bank had sold or merged accounts in 2006 or 2007.
The bank had transferred some accounts to BBVA Compass.
Ms. Kane then pursued information from BBVA Compass.
She also involved several other organizations.
These included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Better Business Bureau, and the FDIC.
She even contacted the news, specifically Channel 5 News.
The Legal Owner Issue
After a while, Ms. Kane was told she was not the legal owner of the account.
The bank stated they could not give her any more information.
Ms. Kane eventually received information about what happened to the account.
This information came about four months before the court date.
Judge Judy asked to see the statement.
The judge then addressed Ms. Friedman.
She stated that Ms. Friedman had closed the account shortly after it was opened.
Ms. Friedman responded that she did not remember closing the account.
Mother's Lack of Recollection
Ms. Friedman reiterated that she did not recall closing the account.
She also stated she did not recall taking the money.
Judge Judy asked if Ms. Friedman had ever taken money out of the account.
Ms. Friedman again said she did not remember.
The judge asked if Ms. Friedman had ever taken money out of any account belonging to her daughter.
Ms. Friedman replied, "No, ma'am."
Judge Judy then asked if Ms. Friedman had ever taken money out of an account that was jointly owned.
Ms. Friedman said she did not remember.
The judge pointed out that Ms. Kane's identification was not on the closure document.
Ms. Friedman's identification number was on the document.
The document also stated that Ms. Kane was not in town on the date the account was closed.
The Bank's Records
Ms. Kane presented a document from the bank.
This document stated that the account was closed by a legal owner.
It also indicated that Ms. Kane was not the legal owner at that time.
Ms. Kane explained that she had to get the news involved to obtain this information.
She stated that the bank had told her they had purged the account.
The bank said they only had a purge document.
This document was the last final record the bank had.
It indicated the account was closed seven years prior.
Ms. Kane explained that she had to send emails from the news to the bank to get information.