I have a question about placing a stop pay on a bank check. We have a customer who came in to get 2 25K bank checks made payable to an individual. The customer stated she was investing money with this person. When we did some due diligence, we could not find anything on the individual. We explained our concerns to the point we asked her not to send the money. The customer repeatedly said she knew the people and she was sending the money. Soon after the customer confessed she received an email from someone posing the be the FDIC and told her the bank was stealing her money and she needed to move her money to a special account. So in the case of fraud does the 90 waiting period have to occur before placing a stop pay? My concern is if we place a stop pay how that would impact the receiving bank. if I’m thinking correctly, they would come back on us for the funds given the funds would be credited prior to the check being returned stop pay.

do you mean a cashier's check?

"bank check" can many many things to many people

But if the 2 checks, regardless of type, have already been cashed and cleared, how would you place a stop payment after the fact? you've already missed the return deadline, so of course the BOFD would be correct in rejecting as untimely.

Yes sorry we call them bank checks but cashier’s checks are what I’m referring too.

Understood but I never said the checks have been negotiated. They were mailed out by the customer yesterday.

The only reason that a bank can refuse to honor a cashier's check is if it has been lost, stolen, or destroyed and it should not honor a claim from the remitter for 90 days after issuance as it would be liable to a holder in due course if the check is presented prior to the 90-day period.

Your customer made a poor decision in spite of your best efforts to stop them. There is nothing the bank can do at this point.

The special provision in the Uniform Commercial Code (section 3-312) that provides the purchaser/remitter or payee the right to make a Lost/Stolen/Destroyed claim on a cashier's, teller's, or certified check has no provision for "buyer's remorse." So don't even think you can stop payment after 90 days. As Brian said, there is nothing the bank can do to restore its customer's funds.

Given the dollar amount -- $50,000 -- the bank should be considering how it will be completing its SAR filing.