Kindgo
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The Associated Press
April 24, 2003, 4:09 PM EDT
For the third straight day, hundreds of nervous customers lined up outside branches of a Chinatown bank to withdraw their money or to make sure their possessions were safe.
Although crowds outside Abacus Federal Savings Bank's two branches in lower Manhattan subsided since news of an alleged embezzlement broke on Tuesday, clusters of worried ethnic Chinese customers lined up between police barricades early Thursday morning.
"I just wanted to look and check and make sure everything is OK," said Rita Lin, 24, who arrived at the bank's branch on the Bowery at 6:45 a.m. and stood on line for five hours before being allowed in.
The run started Tuesday after a Chinese-language newspaper and radio station reported that the former manager of the Canal Street branch allegedly embezzled as much as $1 million. The employee was fired but has not been arrested.
Vera Sung, the head of the bank's legal department, said the case had been turned over to the FBI. The FBI has not commented on the case.
Sung said her main task now was to reassure customers -- who had withdrawn more than $2 million so far -- that their holdings were safe and to make sure that anyone who wanted to withdraw their money could do so without endangering themselves.
"People are walking targets for robbery," said Sung, as customers clutching bags trickled out of the bank on the crowded Bowery thoroughfare.
The bank, which also has branches in Brooklyn, Queens, Philadelphia and Edison, N.J., caters to the Chinese population, including many recent immigrants. On Wednesday, the concern spread to the Chinese community in Philadelphia, where patrons had withdrawn at least $700,000 by noon, temporarily emptying the branch's vaults.
Abacus president Thomas Sung was in Philadelphia Thursday trying to reassure customers of the bank's stability and solvency. Abacus' other branches appeared to be operating as usual.
Federal regulators have also said the bank is sound. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insures bank deposits of up to $100,000 per account.
Some customers said Thursday they were not originally concerned, but long delays at the bank were making them nervous.
Catherine Chen, an immigrant from the Fujian province, said she had been coming to the bank since Tuesday because she needed to get her passport, which she kept in a safe deposit box. After two days of waiting, she said she had lost faith.
"Yesterday I stood for seven hours to get one passport. Tuesday for four hours," said Chen, who returned Thursday and became teary-eyed as she described her ordeal. "Now, I don't trust the bank."
Sung said the bank was trying to process people quickly, adding that everyone's money and personal items were in good keeping.
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local...lines-manhattan
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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