P o rn star suing Chase bank after her account was closed 'because she works in adult film industry'
- Layton
Benton, the 22-year-old star of movies such 'The Bomb Booty', only
found out her account was closed this month when she went to ATM
- She plans to sue Chase bank, saying: 'You can't take someone's money'
- Accounts of several P o rn industry workers closed following a 'review' claims bank letters but give no other explanation
- Speculation that it is part of an effort by the Department of Justice investigation called 'Operation Choke Point'
- Department have been approaching banks asking them to deny access to people 'who may be breaking the law'
A P o rn star has threatened to sue Chase bank after they closed down her account because she makes adult movies, she claimed.
Layton
Benton, the 22-year-old star of movies such as 'The Bomb Booty', said
today that her account containing thousands of dollars was closed on
April 11 and she only found out when her ATM card was declined. Chase reportedly told her she was a 'risk' and wouldn't further elaborate.
JP
Morgan Chase, the parent company of Chase bank, reportedly ordered the
closure of hundreds of bank accounts registered to the names of people
who work in adult entertainment industry this month.

< id="share--" value="" ="text">
Copy link to paste in your message
+6

< id="share--" value="" ="text">
Copy link to paste in your message
P o rn star Layton Benton plans to sue Chase bank
after she found out her account had been closed allegedly due to her
career in adult entertainment

< id="share--" value="" ="text">
Copy link to paste in your message
No explanation: Letters were reportedly sent out
to people who work across the adult industry. However it does not given
any real reason as to why their accounts were being closed
Benton, who lives in LA, told the New York Post:
'I had a few thousand dollars in there, and they told me I’d have to
wait ten days to get a check. I literally went to the bank and cried,
saying ''You can’t just take someone’s money.'''
She
said that she was taking legal action and was worried about what
closing her account would do to her credit history. She never informed
Chase bank of her line of work.
Chase
Bank began sending out
letters earlier this month to the entertainers, according to CNBC, informing them their accounts will cease to exist on May 11.
The
letter, which has been posted on social media by several of the
industry names involved, says the shut down was a result of a 'review'
and apologizes for any inconvenience, however gives no further
explanation.
Pornographic actress Teagan Presley, who has a masturbatory device modeled from her body, told adult industry blog XBiz News that a Chase employee said the reason for the termination was because she was in the 'adult business'.
Presley
said Chase also intend to close her husband's account, and that they
were told it would not be possible to open another with the bank.
The
letter reiterates that the terms and conditions of a Chase account
state that 'either of us may close your account at any time, without
notice and without a reason'.
Presley,
28, later posted on Twitter: 'Thank you for @Chase for closing my
personal account that I’ve had since I was 18 years old. I was with
Washington Mutual before you bought them out.
'It's just ridiculous cause I don't do business with that account. I only pay my house bills with it. That's why it's personal.'
The
move has come as a surprise, given the adult entertainment industry
generated close to $5 billion in revenue last year in the United States,
according to Economy Watch.
There
is speculation the Department of Justice triggered the clampdown as
part of a targeted effort to shut down certain industries by preventing
them access to banking services, which they have called Operation Choke
Point.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last
Thursday, American Banking Association CEO Frank Keating wrote that the
Justice Department is 'telling bankers to behave like policemen and
judges'.
'Operation
Choke Point is asking banks to identify customers who may be breaking
the law or simply doing something government officials don’t like,'
Keating wrote.
'Banks must then ''choke off'' those customers’ access to financial services, shutting down their accounts.'
Among the others to be caught up in the snafu is up-and-coming P o rn star Dakota Skye, who Tweeted her frustration.
'#Chase has f***** with people before with other issues. Should not get away with s*** like this,' she posted.
Tegan
Avluv said her account was being foreclosed as well, calling the move
discrimination because the work that she does is legal.
'If it's a legal job then discrimination shouldn't be allowed. At all,' she wrote to blogger Perez Hilton, who first published one of the Chase letters.
Edited by PurplePhase - May 21 2014 at 2:48pm