Puerta

This case turns on an exception, 12 U.S.C. § 3403 (c), to the Right To Financial Privacy Act, 12 U.S.C. § 3401 , et seq. The issue is whether a bank employee can tell an inquiring federal agent anything about a custom *1340 er’s account, and if so, how much, without subjecting the bank to liability.

FACTS

Dr. Antonio Puerta, the appellant, opened a bank account at Security Pacific National Bank under an alias, Anthony Simon. He used a Spanish passport with that name as his identification. He deposited a little under $100,000 when he opened the account, but withdrew every penny of it five days later. About three months later, Puerta wrote a check for $164,000 on the empty account, and tried to deposit it in a different Security Pacific branch. The deposit was not accepted, because the bank ascertained that there was no money in the account on which the cheek was drawn.

Subsequently, Puerta tried to make a $900 deposit from the empty Security Pacific account into an account at a Bank of America branch, and draw $750 against it. The teller’s computer flashed a warning, so the manager called Security Pacific to ask about the check. Security Pacific told her that the account had…