Occupy Wall Street's Fiscal Team Lost $100K And Blamed It On Visa, Only To Find Out It's Their Own Fault

 

The rapidly growing Occupy Wall Street movement taking place in Manhattan's Financial District and spreading with satellite versions popping up in cities nationwide recently lost a whopping $100,000, The New Haven Independent reported. 

The $100,000 loss happened when attempted online credit card donations were rejected because the account was frozen for over three days.

After a series of finger pointing and blaming other companies, the reason for the freeze turned out to be the fault of Occupy Wall Street's designated fiscal agent, the Alliance for Global Justice, a D.C.-based not-for-profit.

About a week ago, AFGL said that an account already containing about $40,000 to $60,000 in donations collected through online credit card payments was frozen for three days, the report said.
Initially, the AFGL pointed its finger at a Visa subsidiary called Authorized.net citing political motives for freezing the funds. 

Here's what a founding member wrote on the not-for-profit's site [via The New Haven Independent]:

“I can’t help but believe that politics must be involved somewhere,” said Kathy Hoyt, a founding member of AfGJ, in a statement posted online. She noted that Authorize.net is owned by CyberSource Corporation, which is owned by Visa, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

A Visa spokesperson denied those allegations saying it only handled the transactions.

Eventually, the AFGL directed its blame toward E-onlinedata, who handled the money, and asked its supporters to call the company and demand that they release the frozen funds.

It finally realized its own fault in the situation because they failed to understand the level of liability expressed in the contract with the online payment company.

AFGL issued an apology.

“We apologize to E-Onlinedata for any actions on our part that may have been construed as reflecting negatively on their company.  Following extensive conversations with the company today, we are confident that the situation is on its way to a rapid resolution. Please stop making calls to E-Onlinedata.” 

The released money is expected to be posted to the AFGL's account today.