The fraud started in August 2023 as fear dressed up as urgency. Pop-up warnings began flashing across 86-year-old Nina Mortellito’s computer screen, claiming her bank accounts had been hacked. What followed was a months-long tale of manipulation that ultimately drained her of $700,000 — her entire life savings.
According to a lawsuit filed against Merrill Lynch in Manhattan Supreme Court, the Upper East Side resident who suffers from age-related memory loss was persuaded to make a series of withdrawals over nine months, framed as an act of “safekeeping.”
It was uncharacteristic of Mortellito to withdraw so much at once. For over 30 years, her withdrawals never exceeded $5,000. Her niece had even been added as a co-trustee in 2022 to provide oversight and financial safeguards. Even though the withdrawals were out of character for Mortellito, the banks never raised a red flag.
“We are extremely disappointed the banks have not acted according to reasonable professional standards,” Mortellito’s nephew-in-law, Stephen Kuhn, told The New York Post. (1) “We are left with no choice but to bring this lawsuit, which we hope will bring real change to the banks’ policies and procedures, lessening the chances this will happen to others.”
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