JPMorgan Chase Failed To Prevent 85-Year-Old Woman Getting Fleeced by Son for $8,000,000, According to FINRA Complaint: Report

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is now reportedly facing an arbitration battle against an 85-year-old widow who alleges the financial giant failed to stop her son from fleecing her out of an $8 million fortune.

Bloomberg reports that the widow, Susan Kraus, filed a claim against the financial firm last October with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Kraus’s son, Brett Graham, pleaded guilty earlier this year to defrauding his mother out of $8.4 million and is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Kraus made claims against JPMorgan and several other financial firms, hoping to recover those stolen funds, according to Bloomberg.

FINRA reportedly ruled that her claims should be decided on in closed-door arbitration, but JPMorgan then sued Kraus to halt the proceedings, arguing she was never actually a client of J.P. Morgan Securities. The financial firm wanted her claims aired out in court or an arbitration panel separate from FINRA.

This week, however, US District Judge Jesse Furman swatted down the financial giant’s suit, siding with Kraus.

“Having made that choice (not to mention, having already submitted the question to the FINRA arbitrators and lost), JPMS may not now obtain relief from a court.” 

Kraus’s lawyer, Jenice Maleck, tells Bloomberg that JPMorgan failed to protect Kraus.

“Money laundering and wire fraud happen at financial institutions and we have alleged these financial institutions either don’t have appropriate policies in place or didn’t follow them to protect a senior in need.” 

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