Castano v. Wells Fargo Bank

In the first week of October 2000, more than $203,000 was deposited into John Castano’s Wells Fargo bank account via two separate wire transfers. The funds were transferred from a Mexican bank account. Castano admits he has no connection with the party sending the money or with the intended recipient of the funds. He also acknowledges that he has no reason to believe that either party intended to present him with a gift of these funds. He recognizes that the funds were deposited into his account in error when the sending party transposed a number.

Nonetheless, Castano believes he is entitled to the amounts transferred into his account. The trial court refused to indulge Castano’s belief and ordered him to surrender two cashier checks purchased with the transfer funds. We hold that Castano’s claim to the funds cannot be supported by legal or equitable principles. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order. Additionally, in light of the complete absence of any rational legal or equitable theory supporting Castano’s claim, we grant Wells Fargo’s motion for sanctions and assess a sanction of $5,000.