Ahlo, Inc. v. Bank of America

Patino & Associates is credited with initiating the first U.S. lawsuit dealing with on-line banking losses, identity theft and cyber fraud. The case began on April 5, 2005 when a Miami business owner logged into his commercial account at a Bank of America computer and discovered someone had initiated a $90,000 wire transfer to a bank in Latvia. The business owner immediately notified BOA, but the bank failed to act promptly. By the time the wire transfer was halted, $20,000 had already been withdrawn from the client’s account. BOA ultimately claimed it was not responsible for the business owner’s loss because his personal computer had been hacked and his banking information stolen, which had enabled hackers to initiate the wire transfer.

Patino and Associates filed a lawsuit on the client’s behalf and the case was settled for a substantial amount of money over and above the loss. Mr. Patino became nationally recognized for his work dealing with the responsibility of banks to their customers for online banking fraud, cyber loss and identity theft.