Consumer complaint received 2022-12-05
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: PROSPERITY BANCSHARES, INC. (TX)

This nonprofit, 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) organization holds a checking account with Prosperity Bank in XXXX, TX. On XX/XX/2022, the signers and officers of this nonprofit went to Prosperity at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX XXXX to close the account and were told at that moment by the banker XXXX that the signers on the account had been changed without our notification or consent. We had an established relationship with the banker ( first XXXX XXXX and then XXXX after XXXX left ) and banking center manager XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX at this location for 3 years ; they personally knew who we were. We had expressed concerns to them in XX/XX/2022 about the security measures in place at the bank to ensure this nonprofits account was secure because we had been alerted to suspicious activity concerning this nonprofit. Through phone calls and emails with XXXX and XXXX, we had been assured that alerts had been put on the nonprofits account to ensure that no changes could be made without the consent of us current signers. We had been assured multiple times that no matter what, a transfer of signers can not occur without the consent of us current signers, still, they assured us they had placed additional notes and alerts on the account as an additional safeguard. When we signers showed up to close the account on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX pulled up the account and shockingly told us that the signers on the account had been changed the prior day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) at a different bank branch, the Prosperity at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX XXXX under the approval of that banking centers manager, XXXX XXXX, clearly without the consent of us actual signers on the account and officers of this nonprofit. XXXX said the bank never should have allowed this signer change. We learned that four individuals had showed up to this different banking center branch of Prosperity and been allowed to change the signers on this account to themselves, thus wrongfully transferring control of this nonprofits account of them. We were also told that the banking center manager XXXX XXXX at that location ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) instructed those individuals on additional paperwork they needed to ensure their fraudulent activity and wrongful transfer were successful, and these individuals complied. Despite the actual officers and signers of this nonprofit providing a Board Resolution striking down all of this fraudulent activity and asserting the actual officers of this nonprofit to XXXX and XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ( between the time these fraudsters first showed up on XX/XX/XXXX and when they came back with the fraudulent document that the banking center manager XXXX XXXX instructed them to make up ), Prosperity still went forward with transferring control of this account to these fraudulent individuals and even set them up on online banking. Prosperity claims they have frozen the account. It has been over 2 months now and this nonprofit has been locked out of the nonprofits funds and are unable to conduct the business we need to conduct because there is no access to funds to pay for this nonprofits business dealings. It appears Prosperity has violated provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act and the Know Your Customer provisions of the USA Patriot Act, and perhaps there are other violations. We rightful signers have tried multiple times with Prosperity to regain access to the account. The bank has actually gone so far as to want us to negotiate account control with the fraudsters who Prosperity has given control of the account to after Prosperity coached them on how to perpetrate their crime. To date, the bank refuses to give us original signers back access to the account, despite this being all being a result of their gross negligence and despite us signers never being contacted by the bank about the signer change, never authorizing this signer change, and us actually proactively instructing the bank ahead of any of this fraudulent activity to never do a signer change without us current signers present.