A group of around 40 clients of Luxembourg-based banks, mainly the Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL), are preparing to take legal action after losing between €6,000 and €20,000 each in last summer’s wave of LuxTrust-related fraud cases.
According to their lawyer, Marc Theisen, out-of-court solutions have failed, leaving court action as the only remaining avenue. The victims are expected to meet in early October to discuss next steps.
Theisen explains that banks have "stubbornly maintained their position that they made no mistakes and bear no responsibility" for the losses. Months of talks, including efforts involving the Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF), have not resulted in any settlements or compensation outside of the judicial process.
Each fraud case differs too much for a collective lawsuit, Theisen says, but he notes recurring patterns that suggest banks might share some responsibility.
In many cases, similar amounts were withdrawn, indicating to the lawyer that banks could have used their technical resources to block at least some of the fraudulent transactions, even though the fraudsters often employed sophisticated methods.
Further evidence pointing to possible bank responsibility is the significant drop in fraud cases after last summer, a trend Theisen partly attributes to public awareness but also to improved security measures at the banks. He criticised many banks for their "cold-shoulder" approach to clients affected by the fraud.
The number of victims is likely to exceed the 40 individuals currently represented by Theisen, who claims to have heard of thousands of similar cases, with some victims losing over €100,000.
While some individuals have managed to recover all or part of their stolen money, Theisen explains that most have not. While Luxembourg prosecutors have announced a handful of arrests in connection with the scams, Theisen believes these are mostly "small fish", rather than the main perpetrators.
Theisen cautions victims not to expect much from complaints filed against unknown suspects, saying it is painful to see the ringleaders escape justice. Even if some lower-level criminals are caught, he warns, victims may have to wait a long time to recover their losses – if they ever do.
These warnings and reminders, Theisen stresses, cannot be repeated too often.
