A Chicago resident has taken legal action against a prominent credit union and a major credit reporting agency, alleging severe mishandling of fraudulent transactions and inaccurate credit reporting. Miguel Grimaldo filed the complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on April 4, 2025, targeting Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) and Equifax Information Services LLC as defendants.
According to the complaint, Grimaldo became a victim of identity theft when fraudsters gained unauthorized access to his NFCU accounts on October 12, 2024. Despite promptly notifying NFCU about the suspicious activity, the credit union allegedly allowed several unauthorized transactions to proceed. These included a $1,300 credit card advance and multiple fund transfers totaling over $2,000. Grimaldo contends that NFCU failed to recognize these transactions as fraudulent and held him liable for them, thereby damaging his financial standing. "NFCU refused to treat the transactions as fraudulent," states the complaint, which accuses NFCU of violating federal laws such as the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) and Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA). Furthermore, Grimaldo claims that Equifax neglected its duty under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by failing to reinvestigate disputed items on his credit report after being notified of the inaccuracies.
Grimaldo is seeking judicial intervention for actual damages along with statutory damages amounting to $5,000 under FCBA violations and an additional $1,000 under EFTA violations. The lawsuit also demands treble damages for NFCU's alleged noncompliance with electronic funds transfer regulations. Additionally, Grimaldo requests punitive damages from both defendants for willful or negligent violations of FCRA requirements. The plaintiff is represented by attorneys Daniel A. Edelman, Tara L. Goodwin, and Madeline Brashear from Edelman Combs Latturner & Goodwin LLC based in Chicago.
The case underscores significant issues regarding consumer protection rights in financial services and credit reporting practices. By filing this lawsuit, Grimaldo aims not only to rectify his personal grievances but also to highlight systemic problems within these institutions' handling of identity theft cases. The presiding judge over this matter is yet to be named; however, it carries significant implications for how similar disputes might be adjudicated in future cases involving alleged breaches by financial entities like NFCU or large-scale data handlers such as Equifax.
Attorneys representing Miguel Grimaldo include Daniel A. Edelman from Edelman Combs Latturner & Goodwin LLC located at 20 South Clark Street Suite 1800 Chicago IL 60603-1841; contact details provided are (312)739-4200 phone number with email addresses courtecl@edcombs.com dedelman@edcombs.com tgoodwin@edcombs.com mbrashear@edcombs.com respectively while no specific judge has been assigned yet but identified through Case ID:1:25-cv-03673