‘Disgusting’ Claims Made Against Bank & Credit Union Giants

The multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that victimized retired U.S. Navy Commander Larry W. Cook began on Oct. 6, 2020 and ended April 20, 2021, the day before his death. In just six months, the highly decorated nuclear submarine commander and a member of Navy Federal Credit Union since the 1970s sent 75 ­international wire transfers totaling $3,608,700 to unknown persons at two banks in Thailand.

Infuriated over how her 76-year-old uncle was exploited by scammers, Janine Satterfield of Tacoma, Wash., who is the administrator of his estate, sued Navy Federal and Wells Fargo for negligence. In May, U.S. District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton in Alexandria, Va., threw out her lawsuit after Navy Federal and Wells Fargo filed motions to dismiss the case, which has attracted national media attention.

But the legal battle is not over. On June 12, Satterfield filed a motion based on new evidence and other legal grounds, which is seeking to reinstate the lawsuit so that it can be heard and decided by a jury.

Satterfield’s four legal claims were dismissed, including her key negligence allegation. She claimed Navy Federal failed to protect the veteran even after the credit union reported him to Fairfax County Adult Protective Services (APS) because the international wires indicated possible elder financial exploitation.

“Try as she might, Plaintiff simply cannot establish that Navy Federal had a recognized duty to protect Cook from the criminal conduct of the third-party fraudsters or prevent Cook from transferring his funds as requested,” Navy Federal’s lawyers wrote in their argument to dismiss the case. “Plaintiff’s entire case distills to a theory that Navy Federal should have done more. Virginia law, however, simply does not impose an obligation on Navy Federal to shield Cook from the criminal conduct of the third-party scammers or refuse to process the transactions he directed Navy Federal to initiate merely because it had a concern the circumstances were suspicious. Navy Federal is a credit union, which undertakes financial transactions customers request, not an insurer of the well-being of its customers.”

Judge Hilton agreed at least in part with Navy Federal’s argument. He wrote in his decision granting the dismissal that Virginia law prohibits the existence of a duty by a bank to its depositor under the circumstances here.

In response to the case and Satterfield’s new court filing, a Navy Federal spokesperson said, “Our members are always our first priority, and we handle all member transactions with great care. Out of respect for the jurisdiction of the court, we have no further comment.”

A Wells Fargo spokesperson said: “We are aware of the appeal yet cannot comment on the plaintiff’s motion. Wells Fargo takes financial exploitation very seriously. We are committed to helping our customers avoid fraud and scams through various resources, including ongoing education efforts.”

But what happened to her uncle is beyond Satterfield’s comprehension and her anger is fueling her determination to hold the financial institutions accountable. As an investment advisor for a super-regional bank in Washington State, Satterfield knows the extensive training employees of financial institutions are required to complete to protect their customers and members against financial exploitation of the elderly.

“I cannot get over it. I cannot let it go,” she said. “Every fiber, every cell in my body knows this is absolutely negligent and disgusting and disturbing.”

Satterfield also filed the lawsuit hoping it will raise awareness about the growing problem of elder financial exploitation, and that lawmakers and regulators will close loopholes around wire fraud to protect seniors. Indeed, the American Association of Retired Persons released a new report earlier in June stating that older Americans lose an estimated $28.3 billion annually to elder financial exploitation and much of it is never reported to authorities.

Even though the elder financial exploitation of Cmdr. Cook was reported to authorities, the only thing that stopped it was his death.

Satterfield reflected that most members of her family didn’t know Cmdr. Cook all that well, but they knew of him, and admired his dedication and service to the military.

“He was not a Tom Hanks kind of guy. He was a committed military man who was very intellectual. We did not know him. We knew of him. He did interact [with the family] with emails and a couple of phone calls, and the like,” Satterfield said when describing her uncle. “He was always traveling. He never married. He never had any children. He never had any pets. He was 100% a military commander, a nuclear submarine commander. We knew about his career, and we respected him.”

Cook became a U.S. Navy commissioned officer on June 24, 1968, and enrolled in the Navy’s submarine and nuclear power schools. During his military career, he directed the Navy’s undersea warfare system test and evaluation for submarine applications and served as the commanding officer for the USS Pargo, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine. By the time he retired in 1992, he received a number of military honors for his service, became a successful consultant in civilian life and managed two of his own rental properties in Washington State.

In addition to his accounts at Navy Federal, Cmdr. Cook held accounts at Wells Fargo throughout his lifetime. His estimated net worth was approximately $8 million to $10 million, according to court filings.

But by July 2019, Cmdr. Cook’s health began to deteriorate after he suffered an acute stroke and his mother died at the age of 101 in February of that year.

Following the stroke, his cognitive abilities declined. According to court documents he stopped filing his personal income tax returns, failed to file tax returns for his mother and her trust, and stopped assisting the attorney who was handling the administration of the trust. He also was forced to retire since he was no longer able to keep working at the same level due to the stroke.

The lawsuit said the stroke impaired his capacity to make reasoned and rational judgements or decisions regarding his personal health and management of his finances, making him highly vulnerable to undue influence and financial exploitation. What may have made matters worse for Cmdr. Cook was isolation – he had no close-by family support.

After receiving a fraudulent email on Oct. 6, 2020, he went to the Vienna Navy Federal branch to send out his first international wire to a person with an account at Standard Chartered in Singapore. Since then and through April 20, 2021, he sent out 75 international wire transfers to individuals holding accounts at Standard Chartered and Bank of Bangkok. One wire was sent through Wells Fargo. For an unknown reason, the bank declined to send Cmdr. Cook’s second international wire. Most of the wire transfers were in the amount of $49,500 because any amount above that would have been required to be reported to Thailand’s government, according to Satterfield.

Satterfield’s new legal action against Navy Federal and Wells Fargo is based on new evidence, which includes an affidavit of Sean C. Gray, a former employee of the Fairfax County APS, who worked with Navy Federal.

On Dec. 15, 2020, after 28 wires had been sent by Commander Cook, a Navy Federal representative reported him to APS for “incoming wires and outgoing wires” that were conducted in a manner indicative of possible elder financial exploitation, according to court documents.

Gray said he went to Cmdr. Cook’s house to speak to him, but he refused to open the door. He also said he later spoke with Cmdr. Cook over the phone.

“Mr. Cook cursed me out on the phone call after I attempted to explain to him that he was a victim of financial exploitation,” Gray stated in the affidavit. “Mr. Cook did not believe me and told me so. However, Mr. Cook did not seem to know reality. He was not able to tell me what the transfers were for. He was not able to tell me who the people were that he was wiring. It seemed to me that he was not capable of understanding what was going on.”

Because of the large amount of money being wired overseas, Gray made a referral to the FBI.

On Jan. 28, 2021, Special Agent Tim Ervin, now retired, stopped by Cmdr. Cook’s home in Herndon, Va., but he did not answer the door or was not home. Court documents showed Ervin sent Cmdr. Cook an email requesting an interview and expressed concern to the retired veteran that he may be a victim of fraud. Although Ervin asked Cmdr. Cook to call him, it is unknown if he ever did or whether Ervin interviewed him. Ervin declined CU Times’ request for an interview.

Gray said he informed Navy Federal that he believed Cmdr. Cook was incapacitated.

“I attempted to have Navy Federal sit down and meet with Mr. Cook in person. That meeting would have provided a better catalyst for APS to go to court and get a conservator appointed for Mr. Cook,” Gray said. “I recall that I explained to Navy Federal that they needed to make Mr. Cook come into a branch to actually meet him and then if there were concerns with his capacity, they could contact APS and make a referral with their evidence. In spite of my conversations with Navy Federal, they refused to do as was being asked, knowing that there was concern that Mr. Cook was incapacitated and the victim of financial exploitation. Navy Federal could have stopped the wires and could have refused the transactions, but they did not.”

Based on this new evidence and other legal arguments, Satterfield contended her uncle’s case should be heard and decided by a jury. A court hearing will be held in July.