Ralph Nader on Bank One's mugging of publishersThe following is the text of a letter from Ralph Nader asking the Comptroller of the Currency to investigate Bank One for taking money belonging to publishers.
Ralph Nader
May 2, 2002
John Hawke
Dear Mr. Comptroller,
With this in mind, I want to call your attention to a bizarre set of actions by Bank One and its subsidiary, American National Bank which resulted n the seizure of more than a million dollars belonging to a group of small publishers. Bank One apparently grabbed the publishers' funds in a backdoor attempt to satisfy a loan the bank had made to LPC Group which had been contracted by the publishers to distribute their books. On April 1, LPC deposited a $1.2 million payment from sales of books owned by the publishers and which were on consignment with LPC. One million of the payment was to be sent to the publishers. Instead, the bank took the publishers' money. The true ownership of the money was well known by the bank at the time of the seizure, according to the publishers. In addition, it is reasonable to assume that the bank, in making the loan to LPC, had taken due diligence in ascertaining the nature of LPC's business that involved the distribution of books on consignment. The publishers were not involved in the LPC loan, received no proceeds from the loan and had no responsibility for its repayment. These are small publishers that can ill-afford to lose this money. And the nation can ill-afford to lose independent small publishers who keep the First Amendment alive as a vital part of our democracy. It would be a sad commentary on banking practices and bank regulation if these arbitrary high-handed "collection" practices were allowed to stand. Such practices do not enhance badly needed confidence in the integrity of our banking system. I urge you to take a close look at this case.
Sincerely,
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