Questions are mounting over how a young couple lost $90,000 after claiming they were the victim of a failed bank transfer – with Commonwealth Bank claiming they never got the money in the first place.
Elli Houston, 21, and her fiancé Trae Murphy, 23, came forward this week to claim they had transferred $90,000 from their CBA account to a bank of melbourne account as of June 30.
The pair had saved up some money to buy a piece of land in Yarrawonga, a small town near the New South Wales-Victoria border.
However, the couple claimed the money initially bounced back into their account – and has since disappeared completely.
Ms Houston and Mr Murphy have now filed a complaint against the bank with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and say they have been devastated by the apparent disappearance of their precious savings.
But the couple’s version of events and that of the Commonwealth Bank are completely contradictory, with the bank claiming they never had close to $90,000 in their account.
While it’s not suggested the couple did anything wrong – just that an incident appears to have happened somewhere along the way – Daily Mail Australia looks at the key questions that remain unanswered in the saga.
Elli Houston, 21, and her fiancé Trae Murphy, 23, claimed this week that they transferred $90,000 from their CBA account to a Bank of Melbourne account on June 30. However, they claim that this significant amount is now gone.
What happened to the mysterious $90,000?
Ms Houston said after she and her carpenter partner initially transferred $90,000 from an ABC account which held a total of $96,000 on June 30.
She then said he rebounded a few days later on July 4.
The same day they tried to transfer the money again and the next day they flew to Bali for vacation.
Ms Houston said the money bounced a second time on July 7, but as they were in Bali they were unable to transfer the money internationally.
The couple were then charged a late settlement fee of $2,500 because, due to the lack of money, the settlement fell through while they were abroad.
They returned from Bali on July 20 and went straight to a Commonwealth Bank branch to settle the matter.
But they claimed that after entering the branch they were told they only had 75 cents in their account.
“In Bali, we were able to see that figure ($90,000) again in our account,” Ms Houston said. 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.
“Then when we got home nothing, 75c in our bank account.”
The young couple tried to get their money back, but Commonwealth Bank says they never had the money in their account initially.
A Commonwealth Bank (CBA) spokesperson said it had investigated the claims and had since told Mr Murphy that the receipt numbers he provided ‘do not exist in the CBA’s records “. The bank also said the couple had 75c in their account.
However, Commonwealth Bank claimed the couple never had $90,000 in their bank account.
In a letter sent to the couple, the bank said that on the dates they allegedly attempted to transfer the money, their bank account only contained 75c.
Their highest account balance was $10,400 in July last year, the bank added.
Something wrong with the couple’s receipts?
Ms Houston and Mr Murphy sent screenshots of their Commonwealth Bank account along with receipts of the money transferred.
CBA said it did a thorough review of their records and the screenshots provided by the couple, but they didn’t match.
“CBA confirms that the screenshots do not match your account records or the balance held in your accounts,” the bank’s letter reads.
“No $90,000 trades were attempted on either June 30 or July 4.”
An ABC spokesperson added: “Upon review of the images of the receipts provided, the documents differ from the actual ABC receipts and the receipt numbers do not exist in the ABC’s records.
CBA said it did a thorough review of their records and the screenshots provided by the couple, but they didn’t match.
How could they transfer the funds from their bank account?
Another complication is that funds allegedly sent from the couple’s bank account could not have been transferred directly to the Bank of Melbourne.
This is because the money was in a NetBank savings account which can only transfer funds to other CBA accounts.
“The account from which the transfers allegedly took place is a NetBank Saver which only allows transfers to another CBA account and is not able to process transfers to another financial institution,” a holder said. word of the CBA.
What does this mean for the couple?
Ms Houston claimed the $90,000 was in their CBA account while they were in Bali, but when it came to transferring it to the Bank of Melbourne on their return home, it was gone.
She and her partner took the day off to sit in a bank clerk’s office in hopes of finding the deposit.
“We were visibly distressed because we had lost so much money,” she told 3AW.
“They asked us if we were being held for ransom because we were very upset. It lasted a full day, and then they took five weeks to come back with an answer.
The couple said they waited five weeks for a response from the CBA, with the bank including a link to Beyond Blue, a suicide prevention hotline.
“They said ‘we’re really sorry, we’re still investigating this case, here are some links if you need any help,'” she recalled.
The couple had to increase the amount of their existing loan to keep the land.
“My partner and I have been together since we were 15, we saved for so long for this land and our goal was always to pay it back before we built a house on it so we could travel afterwards,” he said. she declared. .
“It’s like everything has been taken away from us.”
The Bank of Melbourne declined to comment.
Daily Mail Australia sent written questions to Ms Houston and Mr Murphy, but they did not respond.
