Widow takes on CIBC after husband's $15K pension sent to stranger's account

When longtime Edmonton lawyer and retired family court judge James Koshman died last fall, his family never imagined a simple transfer of his survivor's pension benefit to his widow would go so wrong.

But soon after the $15,000 survivor benefit was issued, the money was gone — deposited into a stranger's account. CIBC blamed the Koshmans, saying they used the wrong transit number — a five-digit code that directs deposits to specific bank branches.

The family was floored. They say that number came directly from a CIBC employee — confirmed during a call to the local branch. 

The Koshmans later discovered CIBC had sent crucial instructions about when to use the transit number, but it went to James's email account — weeks after he died. Another serious blunder, the family says.

"There's something very wrong about what's going on," said the couple's son, Jason Koshman, who helped his mother apply for the benefit. 

The money should have been moved from Alberta Pensions Services Corporation to one of the Koshmans' CIBC accounts. 

CIBC told the Koshmans it could only recover $3,200 of the misdirected funds — and Yvette Koshman, James' widow, would have to swallow the nearly $12,000 loss. 

What followed was months of back and forth with the bank — until CIBC told the family there was nothing more it could do.

Consumer advocate Duff Conacher, co-founder of the non profit consumer advocacy organization Democracy Watch, says the case reveals troubling gaps in bank accountability — and cracks in Canada's system for handling complaints.

"The marketplace is completely out of balance, tilted totally in favour of the powerful banks who have all the money," he said, "and totally against the customers who are on their own, frustrated, having lost money." 

In an email to Go Public, CIBC says its process for handling complaints is clear and meets all the requirements for financial institutions in Canada. 

See CIBC's full response to Go Public

This all started because the branch where James Koshman had banked for decades was in the process of closing. All accounts were being automatically transferred to another location with a different transit number.

The Koshman's say weeks after they called CIBC and were given the transit number, the bank sent an email explaining that number shouldn't be used until after Nov. 21.