Aspiring resident loses $1M

Police are investigating how a South African man’s account with a Newport Beach bank had more than $1 million drained from it in the last month without his making any withdrawals or even visiting the bank, police said.

Brian Greenberg, 50, of Johannesburg, South Africa, notified police last week that between June 8 and 25, someone had transferred $1,095,000 out of his Newport Beach Union Bank account, said Sgt. Evan Sailor.

Greenberg has a bank account with a Newport Beach branch of Union Bank of California that he keeps open though he lives in Africa, Sailor said. But last month, there started to be suspicious activity on the account.

“There was allegedly a fax sent to the Union Bank requesting a transfer of funds from the victim’s account to the Bank of China,” Sailor said. “This occurred on three separate occasions in the month of June.”

On June 8, 16 and 25, money was successfully transferred from Greenberg’s account to a Bank of China account. Police said Greenberg was maintaining an account in Newport Beach because he has family here and was planning on moving here.

It does not appear that anyone has ever physically entered the Newport Beach branch and requested a transfer from Greenberg’s account, authorities added.

Police are investigating the case as identity theft. Representatives from Union Bank of California did not immediately return requests for comment.