I opened an account with North Carolina State Employees Credit Union upon relocating to NC. Several months later, suspicious transactions occurred on my debit card and we asked the credit union for help. We were keen to learn who may have obtained the card, and more importantly, how they obtained my security code.The bank representative insisted we needed a police report in order to view the microfilm. We later learned this, in fact, was not a requirement and bank staff could have pulled up the film with a few keystrokes.From the outset, we had great difficulty with the bank's staff. At the time of this incident, I was disabled from a serious illness. Although I was handicapped, NCSECU staff were indifferent and rude. No accommodation was made for my disability. The medication I was taking adversely affected my my ability to function. All of this was fully explained to the bank and Sheriff's department. We collated all suspicious charges including those for which I had only minor degree of uncertainty. Several weeks later we were contacted by a WCSO invest-igator and invited to view the microfilm. Unbeknown to me, I was there for interrogation. I was never advised I was being interrogated, nor was I offered an attorney. Later, we learned bank officials were keenly of this fact. In re-viewing the microfilm, all of the photos were very dark. It appeared I was in the first two photos (even though it was difficult to say for certain). The remaining transactions were several people whom I did not recognize. After 2.5 hours of interrogation, I was arrested for filing a false police report.
I was handcuffed and taken to jail. I've never been arrested in my life. A week later, a colour photo, along with the charge, appeared in a comm-unity newspaper. Several people saw it and it hurt my reputation in my community. We only filed the charges because Bank officials insisted we have a police report. Ul-timately, the charges were dismissed but the bank never refunded the money or made an apology.
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