Bank May Have Stolen - Oops I Mean "Lost" Grandma's Money-Wells Fargo Refuses To Cash Her CD Worth $100K

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PHOENIX -- Phoenix resident Rosemarie Braunstein said Wells Fargo has refused to cash her certificate of deposit because it has lost her records.

Braunstein said the CD is worth at least $100,000.

Braunstein and her husband purchased the CD for $18,023.15 for First Interstate Bank in Phoenix.

Since then, the bank has changed hand two times. It is now owned by Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo officials have told Braunstein they cannot find a record of her investment.

“I didn't work hard all of these years with my husband to get this kind of money, put it in a bank and be told, ‘I'm sorry. I don't know where your money is.’ Are they kidding?” Braunstein said.

Braunstein had forgotten about the CD.

Then, while searching through old records earlier this year, she discovered the original certificate.

"I said, 'I'll be damned, maybe God's throwing this at me for a reason,'” she said.

Braunstein had been forced to put her home up for sale after she lost her nest egg in the 2008 Wall Street crash.

She said money from the CD would allow her to stay in her Central Phoenix residence.

"This would be the answer to everything. The answer to my prayers,” she said. “We'd be able to pay off the house. We'd be able to stay here.”

So far, Rosemarie said Wells Fargo representatives have refused to help her find the missing money.

“They basically just laugh, not actually orally laugh at you, but dismiss you. Like you're insignificant,” she said.

“Maybe it's nothing to them, but it's an awful lot to me,” she said.

Braunstein contacted CBS 5 with her story after seeing our Tuesday 10 p.m. broadcast.

We told viewers about a Casa Grande couple with a similar problem.

Paul and Christine Dickey have a CD worth about $400,000.

Since the CD was purchased in 1980, their bank had changed hands three times.

The couple was unsure which bank owed them money.

At one time, Wells Fargo also owned the Dickey's bank.

Wells Fargo has promised CBS 5 they will contact Braunstein and Paul Dickey.

If you have a similar complaint, go to our homepage and click on "Saw It on CBS 5.”

It will link you to U.S. Comptroller of the Currency's Web site.

The government agency regulates some banks and has online tools to help you find out what agency regulates your financial institution.

Customers should file a complaint with the agency that oversees their bank.