Bank Of Amerika Lands Innocent Craigslister in Pokey

Matthew Shinnick only wanted to sell a couple of mountain bikes on Craigslist, but his attempt to cash a check for the bikes landed him in jail and $14,000 in debt, thanks to over-zealous and insensitive Bank of America employees, according to this account by the San Francisco Chronicle's David Lazarus.

Shinnick listed the bikes, found a buyer via email from Canada willing to pay $600 for the bikes, and then got a $2000 check written on a corporate Bank of America account. The purported buyer said the extra was for shipping and for Shinnick's trouble.

This is a sure sign of a classic scam, where the seller cashes the fake check and the buyer then asks for a refund of some of the cash. Later when the check bounces, the seller is liable for the original amount of the check, the cost of passing a bad check, the loss of the items sold and shipped, plus the amount he 'refunded.'

Shinnick said he wasn't aware of the scam while he was negotiating to sell his bikes – his first foray onto Craigslist.

But he was made suspicious by the unexpectedly large payment.

"That was kind of a red flag because it's a lot of money," he said. "I didn't want to deposit it into my account because I didn't want it to bounce."

So Shinnick, who resides on Nob Hill, stopped by a BofA branch near Union Square in early January.

He said he asked a teller if sufficient funds existed in the BofA business account to cover the check.

"She said it was a valid account and that there were funds to cover it," Shinnick recalled. "I said, 'Great,' and asked to cash the check."

He signed his name on the back.

What Shinnick didn't know is that he'd just become party to a crime.

The bank account may have been real but the check was phony.

What he also didn't know is that, according to the police report for the case, a warning had been placed in BofA's computer system to watch for fraudulent checks drawn on the account in question.

The teller contacted the business and was informed that no check had been written to Shinnick for $2,000 or any other amount.

She immediately passed the check to the branch manager.

"I saw him talking on the phone and staring at me," Shinnick said. "A few minutes later, four SFPD officers came into the bank. They didn't say a thing. They just kicked my legs apart and handcuffed me behind my back."

The police report for Shinnick's arrest says he was taken into custody "for the safety of the bank employees as well as the bank customers."

Shinnick said he was never read his rights.

He said he was instructed by one of the cops to keep his mouth shut and not say anything.

Shinnick said he remained handcuffed in the bank lobby for about 45 minutes while the police spoke with BofA workers.

"As people were coming in to do their banking, I was in plain view of everyone," he recalled. "I was absolutely mortified."

Shinnick was taken to Central Station on Vallejo Street, according to the police report.

He said he was taken by van about an hour and a half later to the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street.

At the Hall of Justice, Shinnick said, he was finally allowed to call his parents after almost five hours in custody. He said he was photographed and fingerprinted, and then strip-searched and given an orange jumpsuit to wear.

Shinnick was eventually cleared of all charges, but he's out $14,000 in legal fees, which he likely cannot recoup from Bank of America, due to a 2004 Supreme Court ruling (Hagberg vs. California Federal Bank) that allows people to report possible crimes to the police without being liable for any consequences.

Shinnick says, and right so, that the bank should have escorted him to a back room and dealt with the matter there.

Moral of the story? Cash is king on Craigslist, anything that sounds too good to be true likely is, and never expect large institutions, like Bank of America and the criminal justice system, to be reasonable or fair.

Photo: Satmandu