Beffa

In November 1993, Mihai Beffa (“Beffa”), a computer goods dealer, contracted with a Romanian company, Seltec, to provide Seltec with computer equipment. Under the terms of the contract, Beffa would ship Seltec’s goods once he received payment for the order. The total cost of the order, $4,200, was to be paid by a wire funds transfer to an account Beffa maintained at the Bank of the West’s (“Bank”) Cupertino, California branch under the names “Mihai Beffa, Dana Beffa, dba Polaris.” When the anticipated wire transfer did not show up in Beffa’s account, he made several inquiries at the Cupertino branch office. Bank personnel advised Beffa each time that no wire transfer in the amount of $4,200 had been received for his account. By late January 1994, Beffa had received his monthly bank statements for November and December 1993, both of which showed that Seltec’s wire transfer had not been credited to his account.

Beffa contacted Seltec several times from December 1993 to January 1994, explaining that he had not received the anticipated payment. The company assured Beffa that it had instructed its bank in Romania to wire the funds. At that time, the Romanian private banking system had…