Consumer complaint received 2015-05-27
Company: SUNTRUST BANKS, INC.
State: MD
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
Due to the aging process, in which I 'am currently XXXX years old ; I added my daughter to my bank accounts ( I have a Money Market and checking account at SunTrust Bank ) as a joint account holder XX/XX/XXXX. I also moved into a Senior Living Community, since my retirement and social security benefits sought of equals my rental expenses, so I figured that I could afford to live alone. Due to my age and no longer do I have access to my own transportation, she and I agreed that she would assist in managing my monthly expenses and possibly, any other unexpected situational crisis that may arise such as emergencies, hospitalization and even, in the event that death may occur, she would have access to my money. These mentioned accounts are my life savings, and I had preplanned for many years to use my money for retirement to afford me my independence and most of all, to avoid imposing on my XXXX daughters and other family member 's lives. I was solely depended upon my youngest daughter and entrusted that she would oversee that my monthly financial responsibilities were met on a daily basis without taking advantage of me. 
After a year had passed, and although I believe that my youngest daughter had been managing my monthly expenses, my intuition told me to visit the bank to inquire about my account balances, and on the day of XX/XX/XXXX, my grandson and I visited the SunTrust bank located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Md., to learn that my life savings were {$26000.00} short. 
The evening of XXXX XXXX, my grandson contacts my youngest daughter to inquire her knowledge of the missing money from my account. While referring to the printouts that the bank representative provided us, he referred to the last XXXX transactions and my daughter admitted to withdrawing all XXXX transactions. He advised her to contact me as I was very disturbed of the discovery of my missing money. When she called me, she was crying, and apologized. She further told me that she really needed the money. 
My grandson and I contacted the SunTrust Fraud Protection Department and I was told that my daughter was making " Over the Counter '' withdrawals from my account using her own issued ATM/debit card to receive cash disbursement transactions using via pin number. I was n't aware that she even possessed an ATM card. The fraud department reported that approximately XXXX cash withdrawal transactions were processed by use of this ATM card. The Fraud investigator explained to my grandson that although this happens quite frequently, it 's a valid act of the joint accountholder as the joint accountholder have full rights and access to the money in my account. She further mentioned that SunTrust is not liable for reimbursement. 
When seeking assistance to pursue criminal charges against my daughter, the XXXX Maryland XXXX rejected my request for a warrant to be issued due to failure to provide the exact location where each ATM withdrawal transaction took place to show probable cause for an arrest. When we returned to SunTrust to request the needed information, they refused to provide us with the information needed and suggested that this request requires extensive research which is very time consuming and may impose an exuberant cost or expense. At this time SunTrust Bank will not provide me any further assistance to enable me to take the necessary legal action to recover my loss.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief