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.

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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

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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.