A US man has filed a federal lawsuit against Citibank, accusing the financial giant of negligence after he lost $20 million in a crypto-related romance scam. The complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court, claims Citibank ignored clear signs of fraud and processed millions in suspicious transactions without proper oversight.
Citibank in Hot Water Over $20M Crypto Scam Allegation?
The plaintiff, Michael Zidell, says the scam began in early 2023, when he was contacted on Facebook by someone using the name Carolyn Parker. Posing as a successful businesswoman, Parker cultivated a friendly, then romantic, online relationship with Zidell. Within weeks, she began urging him to invest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) through a trading platform called OpenrarityPro.
According to Zidell, he trusted the platform and followed Parker’s advice, ultimately making 43 separate transfers totaling more than $20 million to a variety of bank accounts. He was told that using multiple banks was necessary due to high deposit volumes.
But by April, the website vanished—along with his money.
The lawsuit alleges that Citibank handled 12 of those transactions, worth nearly $4 million, sending the funds to a company called Guju Inc. Zidell claims the bank should have detected and flagged the transactions, which involved large, round sums and originated from various trusts and personal accounts, which are atypical of frauds.
“Citibank turned a blind eye to its statutory duties,” the complaint states, accusing the bank of failing to implement security measures, monitor suspicious activity, or investigate red flags tied to Guju’s account activity.
Zidell shared that Citibank’s lack of due diligence enabled the fraud to unfold, effectively making the bank an unwitting participant. He is suing for negligence, arguing that the bank had a duty to act and protect its customers from suspicious activity.
The case highlights the growing instances of romance scams linked to crypto fraud, which is often referred to as “pig butchering”. Just last week, U.S. federal authorities (including the Secret Service, FBI, and the US Attorney’s Office), seized $225 million in allegedly stolen crypto assets. The seizure stems from a case that involved a complex online fraud and human trafficking crime that dated back to 2023. The seizure was done with help from Coinbase and was also linked to a large-scale pig butchering scheme.
Citibank hasn’t yet publicly commented on the lawsuit.
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