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A WIDOW has fought JP Morgan in a bitter war lasting 13 years over her husband’s $53,000 pension.
Now, the longtime feud has come to an end after two kind strangers heard about the grandmother’s heartbreaking story and decided to pay the amount themselves.
Elaine Silverberg, 73, became entangled with the bank after they refused to hand over her late husband’s $331-a-month pension pot due to a clerical error, as reported by The New York Post.
JP Morgan Chase said Silverberg’s late husband, Melvyn, didn’t fill out the required paperwork for the payout before his untimely death from organ failure in 1988.
Melvyn worked at the financial firm for a decade before his death left Silverberg alone to raise three children.
After her retirement, Silverberg went to her late husband’s longtime employer in hopes of getting his retirement package – but the bank refused to give her the money, despite the widow’s repeated pleas.
To put this in perspective, JP Morgan has assets worth $3.9 trillion and operations worldwide.
The financial services company tends to millions of customers and clients in over 100 global markets.
Silverberg’s troubles were heard over 600 miles away when two North Carolina insurance executives decided to take matters into their own hands.
Charlotte resident Roy Messer and his business partner, Bill Rice, were disheartened by Silverberg’s story.
“I couldn’t believe for such an amount of money that they wouldn’t want to do the right thing,” Rice said.
“There is no doubt that her husband would have wanted that money to go to her and his kids.”
Messer deeply sympathized with Silverberg, saying this is something that could happen to anyone.
“I don’t know her and I could have very easily just turned the page. But when something like that reaches out and grabs you,” he told The New York Post.
Silverberg said she never expected such generosity from complete strangers.
“In this crazy world we live in, it is remarkable that such kindness also exists. I am flabbergasted at their extreme generosity,” she said.
In this crazy world we live in, it is remarkable that such kindness also exists. I am flabbergasted at their extreme generosity.
Elaine Silverberg
According to sources at JP Morgan, the bank was never going to hand over Silverberg’s husband’s pension money, as reported by The New York Post.
In total, she is missing out on over $53,000 in funds.
In the 1980s, there was an act that automatically benefitted spouses if their loved ones died.
The act specifically focused on improving the role of pensions as retirement income for widows, like Silverberg.
Previously, Silverberg had reached out to several congressmen, including US Senator Cory Booker and ex-Representative Eliot Engel, to resolve the issue.
JP Morgan did not immediately reply to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
