Financial Ombudsman or Solicitor

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Good evening,

Looking for opinions on whether it’s better to go to the Financial Ombudsman or use a solicitor in a very clear case of fraud.

Bank are pretending it doesn’t exist but clear on documentation there’s a third party’s signature.

Many thanks
 
Thanks Brendan. It’s a family member who I think would like support during the dealings with the bank which, have to date, been awful and very stressful. Perhaps a solicitor would be best in this regard. I wonder would anybody have a recommendation for one who specializes in this area in Dublin?
 
Put everything down in writing ànd write to the bank. Also make contact with the guard's as well. Ombudsmen only get involved in a dispute when you are at an impasse
 
Do you want to tell us the details?

I have seen people complaining that the signature on their loan agreement wasn't theirs and that it was clear that the bank defrauded them. The judge asks "Did you get the loan?". So where is the fraud?

Or that the broker fiddled the P60 to get them a bigger loan. But they got the loan.

Of course, if your relative's signature was forged on a guarantee for a loan to some stranger, then she should certainly go to the Garda.

Brendan
 
Thank you both. It’s quite complicated but basically there’s two borrowers
on the mortgage and one changed all the contact details of the other and requested interest only forging the other signature. Other borrower was unaware and had no reason to believe anything adverse was going on.
 
So who committed the forgery? Bank or the other party to the mortgage?
Are you suggesting the bank knew there was a forged signature at the time, but proceeded anyhow?

I don't see how ombudsman would get involved.
 
Well why would you go to the Ombudsman on this? The bank did nothing wrong. They were a victim of fraud by your friend's partner.

They can go to a solicitor or to the Garda.

Brendan

Edit: post crossed
 
What do you want the bank to do?

They should give your relative details of the loan. I don't see why they would refuse this.

Is the loan in arrears? They should let it known that they did not agree to it being changed to interest only and want it reverted to capital and interest.

But the big problem is with the partner.

Brendan
 
Thank you both. It’s quite complicated but basically there’s two borrowers
on the mortgage and one changed all the contact details of the other and requested interest only forging the other signature. Other borrower was unaware and had no reason to believe anything adverse was going on.

How is this the bank’s problem? You’re relative did not know what their business partner did, so why should the bank have known about it? Hell, for all the bank knows the two of them might be trying to defraud the bank!

Either your relative sorts this out with their partner or they make a complaint to the Garda. On the other hand perhaps the bank will make a complaint to the Garda in any case to cover themselves since it involves forged documents.
 
If they had checked signatures they would have realized straight away. Even after fraud was reported they continued to permit it.
 
Thanks for all your advice, it looks like the thing to do is report it to the Gardaí. They naively thought the bank would acknowledge it and initiate the legal side of it.
 
How to go about this would depend, in part, on what specific legal relief the aggrieved party seeks.

Have they sustained actual financial damage or exposure to future potential damage ? If so, the prime culprit is the target for any civil proceedings. However, that could get very messy as if allegations are going to be thrown at the bank they [bank] would need to be co-defendants in the proceedings. This would be based on the established principle that if a plaintiff has proper cause to suspect that the bank has a liability it is not for the plaintiff to elect as between potential defendants as to which is liable and to what degree.

Would rectification of the contractual misdeeds of the miscreant help to resolve this at a practical level ? I suspect not it but it merits consideration as against embarking on legal proceedings with their attendant risks.

On the bare details I have doubts that the FSOP would have jurisdiction over all aspects of this so they might decline to deal with it. Specifically, I doubt that they could be asked to deal with the allegedly fraudulent actions of the miscreant as distinct from the financial institution.

Criminal proceedings are a different matter entirely. That is a matter for Gardaí to investigate. Thereafter, the DPP considers the collected evidence and decides what offences, if any, will be prosecuted. The DPP would prosecute any criminal matter. The aggrieved party would probably be a witness in those proceedings but not a party to them e.g. it would be D.P.P. -v- Freddy Forger .
 
Thank you for your detailed reply.
 
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I'd be having a word with the relative before doing anything else. Who committed the fraud in your own opinion and make sure that's established.
 
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