‘This could happen to anybody,’ says Bank of America customer whose $10k ‘magically disappeared’ after 27 years

A REALTOR had bought a $10,000 certificate of deposit from her bank, but when she tried to cash it in 27 years later, she was told there was no record of her money.

The Florida woman bought a certificate of deposit in 1997 while her son was young so she could prepare to pay for his college tuition.

“I bought a CD of $10,000 from Barnett Bank, and I packed it away, and I lost it," Enid Bavard, told Fox affiliate WSVN.

However, while going through some old papers, she found the certificate.

“I was so excited. I couldn’t believe when I found it," she said.

With the interest that accumulated over the past 27 years, it would be worth just over $39,000 today.

However, when Bavard went to the bank, they claimed to have no record of the money.

“I went to Bank of America, which purchased Barnett Bank, and they told me that they had no records of it," Bavard recalled.

Barnett Bank was bought by NationsBank in 1997 and was later merged with Bank of America in 1998.

“You trusted them with your money, and at the end, the money magically disappears?” Bavard questioned.

Bavard called WSVN's Help Me Howard and reporter Patrick Fraser to help find her lost money.

She claimed that a bank representative told her that a certificate of deposit could be cashed without showing the document.

“Is it possible the CD was cashed?” Fraser asked.

Bavard responded: “I don’t think so."

When the bank found that they had no record of anyone cashing in the CD, she checked with the Florida Unclaimed Funds Account in case one of the banks turned it over to the state.

However, it was not there either.

“It is in the bank," Bavard affirmed.

Legal expert, Howard Finkelstein from Help Me Howard, provided insight on if a bank can say they don't have your certificate.

“They can say it, but in a court of law, they have to prove it. If they have no record of the CD, they can’t prove anything, so if Enid sued, she should win," Finkelstein said.

The outlet contacted Bank of America on Bavard's behalf and a spokesperson claimed that they still could not find any record of her certificate.

"We conducted a comprehensive search of our available records. We were unable to find any record confirming that Bank of America has or had the CD," a spokesperson told WSVN.

The bank then sent a letter to Bavard.

“They keep records for seven years,” and it was likely the “account was closed more than seven years ago," the letter read.

Bavard was not pleased with the bank's reason for her lost CD.

“I think it’s totally unprofessional and totally unfair. This could happen to anybody," she said.

“I’m thinking of suing the bank. Absolutely. “

The U.S. Sun previously reported on a Chase Bank customer who lost $236k from his account with no explanation.

“I opened my bank account: boom, zero, nothing,” Miles told CBS affiliate WCBS-TV in March 2021.

Screenshots of Miles' account obtained by WCBS-TV allegedly revealed that on March 2, 2021, there were two suspicious transactions from his account.

One transaction was for $200,662.44 and was named Balance Transfer Credit and the other was titled Manual DB-Bkrg 3/02 and was for $35,000.

When Miles went to his local bank branch he claimed they did little to help.

He claimed to have experienced a “communications blackout” from the popular bank.

The Chase Bank customer also claimed that the company blocked his access to his bank accounts.

Miles claimed that the bank knew he was speaking to the news and soon after, it reached out to inform him that he was the victim of identity theft.

Chase Bank confirmed to WCBS-TV that the money never left the bank and it was able to transfer the amount in full back into Miles’ checking account.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Bank of America for comment.