Victims of the alleged financial fraud of Ephren W. Taylor II
filed a class-action lawsuit in California on Tuesday, alleging a
slew of banks and trust companies should have known their
customers' individual retirement accounts were being funnelled into
an alleged Ponzi scheme.
Among the defendants in the lawsuit are Bank of America;
Missouri Bank and Trust; BOK Financial Corp. (BOKF), doing business
as Bank of Kansas City; The Entrust Group Inc.; and Sunwest Trust
Inc.
The lawsuit, filed in the Central Federal District of
California, essentially alleges the companies didn't take proper
care, or provide adequate information, as customers invested their
retirement savings in Taylor's companies.
The defendants couldn't be immediately reached for comment late
Tuesday afternoon.
The Securities and Exchange Commission last week alleged Taylor,
who was CEO of City Capital Corp. (CTCC), was defrauding church
congregations in what it called an $11 million Ponzi scheme.
The class action lawsuit, filed by Coral Springs, Fla. attorney
Cathy Lerman, says Taylor "targeted hundreds of innocent, working
class, church-going, 'socially conscious' people ... and their
churches."
Taylor's attorney said his client will respond to the complaint
and looks forward to telling his side of the story.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday replaces an earlier suit filed against
Taylor last year, adding banks and fiduciaries as defendants.
-By Al Lewis, Dow Jones Newswires; 303-325-1791;
al.lewis@dowjones.com