A former co-owner of the Brooklyn Nets who spent millions on his Citibank credit card claims the bank “unceremoniously dumped” him — and his 29 million “Thank You Points” worth $300,000.
Arthur Rabin, a co-founder of Wear Me Apparel who sold his interest in the Brooklyn basketball team a few years ago, claims he plunked down $200,000 to $300,000 on his Citi Prestige card each month since he opened the account in 2015, totaling millions until the card was shut down this year.
The big spender, once a big money backer of Hillary Clinton’s presidential run who in 2022 with his son Jason sold a set of Hamptons estates for a whopping $118 million, earned the points in Citibanks’ rewards program, which lets customers redeem them for travel, gift cards, cash back and other benefits.
“Citibank’s partnerships with 17 airlines and hotels make its ThankYou® points some of the most valuable around, compared to other similar flexible reward programs offered by other banks,” he said in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed this week against the bank.
But trouble began about a year ago, when Rabin started flagging unauthorized charges on his credit card, which had a $2 million limit.
By August, Citibank shut down the card, claiming there were too many problems.
“We’re unable to reinstate your account due to the number of times it was closed within the last several months due to a lost/stolen card or unusual activity,” Citibank said in a letter.
To add insult to injury, Rabin claims the bank continues to bill him for the remaining balance, including about $151,000 charges he’s repeatedly flagged, and won’t give him the value of the Thank You Points.
“In a classic case of blaming the victim, Citibank has now rejected a number of these disputes, even though the amount at issue is a drop in the bucket compared to the amounts that Mr. Rabin has spent on the card on an annual basis since 2015,” he said in court papers.
Citibank declined comment on the litigation.