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SUIT ALLEGES ELDER FINANCIAL ABUSE BY FORMER CHASE BANK MANAGER
Kathleen Pender
San Francisco Chronicle
May 11, 2015

A lawsuit filed last week claims that a former manager of Chase Bank’s Noe Valley branch befriended an elderly woman and persuaded her and her husband to draw down two home equity lines of credit in 2009 and lend the money to him.

The former manager, Mansoor Rahmani, filed for bankruptcy in 2013 and did not fully repay the couple the $278,000 he owed them, according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court in San Francisco.

The suit charges JPMorgan Chase Bank with elder financial abuse, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence and other violations. It does not name Rahmani because his bankruptcy filing discharged his debt to the couple.

Chase had no comment on the case. Rahmani, in an e-mail, called the allegations “100 percent false.” He said the couple “were investors in a business that they entered into by a legal contract with full disclosures.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Rahmani was an assistant vice president for Washington Mutual from August 2002 to June 2009.

The plaintiffs are Doreen and Robert Bodeker, now 76 and 74, respectively. Doreen Bodeker met Rahmani during her monthly visits to the Noe Valley Washington Mutual branch to pay her mortgage, the suit says.

“Rahmani cultivated a personal relationship with Plaintiff Doreen Bodeker that went beyond the typical banker-customer relationship,” it continues. The two “had coffee together at a nearby coffee shop.” Rahmani invited Doreen to his wife’s baby shower in Oakland and arranged to have two of his relatives drive her to and from the event, which she attended. He also invited her to his wedding in Virginia.

When the Bodekers refinanced with WaMu in the early 2000s, they were offered a no-fee home equity line of credit for $250,000 and accepted it. According to the suit, Rhamani told Doreen Bodeker that if she did not use the line of credit, she would lose it. He then advised her to take money from that line of credit and a separate line of credit at Bank of America and lend it to him.

On or around Feb. 26, 2009, Bodeker allegedly had a check for $62,000 issued from her BofA line of credit and one for $215,000 issued from her WaMu line of credit, both made payable to Mansoor Inc. Both were deposited into a bank or brokerage account controlled by Rahmani, the suit says. The Bodekers have been making all payments on the two lines of credit.

At the time of these events, the plaintiffs were “elderly, fragile and in ill health and were subject to undue influence,” the suit says. Robert Bodeker was in a rehabilitation institution from September 2008 through August 2010, the result of a stroke.

Rahmani gave the Bodekers a promissory note for $278,000 and made interest payments at the rate of 10 percent into a Chase bank account for the couple until November 2012, the suit says. In January 2013, Rahmani filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of California. In May 2013, the court granted his petition and discharged his debts, including the debt owed to the Bodekers, the suit says.

“It’s shameful that Chase will not take responsibility and rectify this situation,” said Cary Lapidus, an attorney for the Bodekers.

Lapidus estimates that the couple lost more than $200,000.

Rahmani said Doreen Bodeker approached him to invest in a new business in early 2009, “which she knew of due to Mrs. Bodeker and I being friends since 2005.” He said the Bodekers “were paid almost $100,000 in income for their investment from May 2009 to December 2012 and as with any investment, gains come with risk which was clearly explained and agreed upon due to the lucrative upside.”

He called Doreen Bodeker “a true friend” and said she “will be repaid once I am capable of such repayment despite the debt being cleared in Bankruptcy court.”

Rhamani returned to JP Morgan Chase as a mortgage consultant from August 2012 to August 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile. Since August 2014, he has been founder and chief executive of S&P Financial Advisors, which is registered in San Leandro, according to the California secretary of state. He is not registered as an investment adviser with the state.

Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: kpender@sfchronicle.com Blog: http://blog.sfgate.com/pender Twitter: @kathpender

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