By Belize Live News Staff: A Belize City woman is seeking justice months after a bank error caused her $1,450 to be deposited into the wrong person’s account, money she says the unintended recipient is refusing to give back.
Colleen Michele Lewis, 30, reported the matter to Precinct 1 CIB after discovering that her rent payment, intended for her landlord in the United States, never reached its destination.
Lewis told police that on March 28, 2025, she visited Atlantic Bank on Magazine Road and handed the teller $1,450 along with the correct account number displayed on her phone. She said she received a receipt, photographed it, and forwarded it to her landlord as proof of payment.
But by the following day, her landlord called to report that no deposit had entered her account
Lewis reviewed the receipt and discovered that the deposit was posted to a similar, but incorrect, account number, belonging to a man identified as Eddie Daniel Pineda.
When she returned to the bank on March 31, Lewis says she was assured the matter would be corrected. Instead, she claims she has been given mixed explanations and told repeatedly that Pineda refuses to return the funds.
Police have launched an investigation into what they classify as a “dishonestly retaining wrongful credit” case. Officers recorded statements, secured the bank slip, and prepared an FIU request. Pineda has been listed as a person wanted for questioning.
No one has been detained so far.
