(ECNS) – A man surnamed Ye thought he and his family were in line to inherit a fortune worth $30 million from his deceased uncle, only to find out that the local bank claimed there was only $3,000 in the uncle's account, according to a report posted on Sina.com on Wednesday.
Ye, a resident of Fuqing, a county-level city under Fuzhou in east China's Fujian province, said the Fuzhou-based bank had never provided any original evidence to support the claim, but only photocopies. He has been suing the bank for the past 30 years but remains unable to get the money.
Ye said his father's elder brother used to be a businessman in Indonesia and became an Indonesian citizen. When the uncle returned to China, he opened an account of "deposits by correspondence" at the Fuzhou bank and placed $30 million in it.
Deposits by correspondence refer to the way in which overseas Chinese, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots, Chinese of foreign nationality and domestic residents authorize domestic banks to handle savings deposits for their funds abroad.
After the account is opened, the bank, as the agent, will keep the passbook or certificate, and mail or issue the Depository Certificate by Agency to the client. Deposits under the account can be withdrawn only against the Depository Certificate, which may be reported lost and brought out of the territory.
However, Ye said his uncle did not have the Depository Certificate.
Ye's uncle passed away in 1987 in Indonesia. As he had not married and had no children and his own father was also deceased, his fortune was given to his mother, Ye's grandma, who later left a notarized will to pass on the legacy to Ye and his family.
However, when Ye went to the bank to draw the money, he was told there was only $3,000.
The local court ruled that Ye's qualification to inherit the legacy is in question and has to be confirmed by Indonesian laws before he is eligible to file a suit against the Chinese bank, the report said.
Guo Shiying, a Fuzhou-based lawyer said a notarized will has the supreme legal authority, but Ye and his family have to file a lawsuit to an Indonesian court to obtain the legitimacy to inherit the fortune first and then submit the court ruling to the embassy for certification in order to be qualified to sue the Fuzhou bank at a Chinese court, according to the report.
