A Beijing court has ordered a bank in the Chinese capital to return the money that disappeared from one of its clients’ accounts in 2012, Beijing Youth Daily reported Saturday.

 The Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court said a local bank, which was not identified in the report, did not provide enough evidence to absolve it of responsibility for the money deposited in its coffers for safekeeping.

The case stems from a client, known only by his surname Feng, who opened an account with the bank with 450,000 yuan (65,200 US dollars) in 1997.

 He later withdrew 200,000 yuan from the account and left it alone. In 2012, thinking he still had 250,000 (36,300 US dollars) – plus interest – he tried to withdraw his savings. 

To his surprise, there were just 2,000 yuan under his name, which the bank said was interest accrued over the years. 

After he asked about his missing savings, the bank’s personnel told him he had withdrawn his money – a transaction he said he would have remembered.

 He was also told that he did not follow a policy issued in 2000 that required all bank clients to have their accounts verified using their real names.

In court, Feng said there was no record in his bankbook of the 200,000 yuan being withdrawn. He said it was also impossible that the 2,000 yuan left in his account was all the interest the bank owed. 

According to Bank of China, one of the country’s largest state-owned lenders, interest for current accounts was 0.35 percent in 2012.

 Feng’s bank countered his claim, saying the bankbook the client presented as evidence may have been for a different, older account. The bank also said it could not be held responsible because Feng did not follow bank regulations that required clients to review their accounts at regular intervals.

In making its ruling, the Beijing court said the bank’s excuses were not convincing enough.