A Bank of America customer accused the lender of surveilling its “entire customer base” for connections to the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.
Neil Castellon, an Orlando, Florida-based BofA customer, alleged in Florida federal court that the bank “data-mined” its users to identify anyone who used a BofA product in the Washington, D.C., metro area between Jan. 5 and Jan 7, 2021.
“[I]n a chilling demonstration of its surveillance capabilities, the Bank cross-referenced this geographic data against its historical records to elevate to the top of its list anyone who had ever purchased a firearm or made a firearm related purchase using any Bank of America product—regardless of when or where that purchase occurred,” Castellon alleged. “BoA later sought to identify any other customers who had a return trip planned to the D.C. Metro area or who made lawful purchases with no nexus to criminal activity.”
Castellon’s lawsuit leans heavily on testimonies before the House Judiciary Committee Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, launched by Chairman Jim Jordan, R-OH, to uncover alleged anti-Republican bias in law enforcement.
In the proposed class-action lawsuit, Castellon alleged that BofA “weaponized its customer data to surveil people rather than detect crime” and that the bank coordinated with law enforcement and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to monitor customer transactions and “develop algorithms and coordinated searches of its customer using constitutionally protected activities that had no legitimate nexus to a crime or unlawful conduct.”
The information shared with authorities reached beyond what’s required of banks by the Bank Secrecy Act, violating the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978, according to the lawsuit.
A BofA spokesperson denied Castellon’s claims, calling the lawsuit “without merit.”
“As we have said, we followed all applicable legal obligations and regulatory requirements in our interactions with the Treasury Department and law enforcement,” the spokesperson said.
Since the Capitol riot, Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump have accused banks of debanking customers for political reasons. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last January, Trump accused BofA CEO Brian Moynihan of debanking conservatives. Moynihan denied Trump’s claims, but said his accusation “opens the dialogue about how to get these regulations correct.”
