American banking giant JP Morgan Chase is suing its customers who allegedly took advantage of a problem by illegally withdrawing thousands of dollars from its ATMs.
The “infinite money problem,” as it was dubbed on social media, allowed bank customers to write themselves a large check, deposit it and then withdraw the funds before the check bounced .
Two individuals and two companies face lawsuits in courts in Houston, Miami and Los Angeles.
They are asked to return the money with interest, pay any related overdraft fees and cover legal fees and other costs incurred by the bank.
“Chase takes its responsibility to combat fraud seriously and prioritizes protecting the company and its customers in order to make the banking system safer,” the bank said in its court filing.
“Part of that responsibility is holding people accountable when they commit fraud against Chase and its customers. Simply put, engaging in bank fraud is a crime.”
In one of the cases, a court filing describes how, on August 29, a masked man deposited a check for $335,000 (£258,300) into the defendant's Chase bank account.
Court documents state the defendant then began withdrawing the money.
The check was eventually returned as counterfeit, but the defendant still owed the bank more than $290,000, the filing adds.
The amount of money retained by the defendants in the four lawsuits totals more than $660,000, according to JP Morgan Chase attorneys.
U.S. banks typically allow customers to withdraw only a small fraction of a check's value before it clears.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that JP Morgan Chase closed the loophole days after several videos discussing the issue went viral on social media.
The report said the bank was investigating thousands of possible check fraud incidents.
