Mr. Mikutta deposited a very large amount of wealth with Citibank, and one of its employees went to work for him. Rather than keep an eye on the new employer’s money, the former Citibank employee embezzeled Mikutta’s funds. Neither Citibank, nor Mikutta paid attention.
The key to the case seems to be in the following paragraphs:

Mr Mikutta, who lives in Zurich, apparently failed to detect his account was being depleted because he was given periodic performance data purporting to show his money was in safe hands.
His lawyers admit Mr Mikutta contributed to his losses by failing to notice what was happening, but still argue the bank was largely to blame for allowing the transfers to occur.

Bottom line: The only person who should be able to authorize a distribution of funds is the beneficial owner of the account. A banker acting on anybody else’s instructions is playing with fire.

Millionaire sues Citibank after Swiss funds go missing
By Haig Simonian in Zurich
Published: December 19 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 19 2006 02:00
A reclusive German millionaire is claiming damages against Citibank in what lawyers say was the biggest alleged fraud in Swiss private banking history.
Lawyers for Peter Mikutta, a self-made millionaire who moved to Switzerland after selling his data communications group, last week filed papers claiming SFr44m (£18m) in damages against the US bank for dereliction of its fiduciary duties.
Michael Werder, a Zurich lawyer, said the bank had for years allowed Mr Mikutta to be defrauded by failing to check movements on his account.
In a separate, but linked, criminal case, Zurich public prosecutors are accusing a former Citibank employee who went to work for Mr Mikutta of fraud and falsifying documents amounting to SFr114m.
The twin cases, to come before the courts next year, are expected to generate immense interest given Switzerland’s famously discreet and dedicated private banks. The country is believed to hold about one-third of the world’s total offshore assets.
The civil and criminal cases allege the former Citibank employee falsified Mr Mikutta’s signature on documents to divert funds from his account for her own uses. The employee’s lawyer, Tanja Knodel, said her client was innocent until proven guilty.
Mr Mikutta’s lawyers allege the bank accepted faxed instructions – sometimes involving multi-million sums – without requesting an original signature or verbally checking the instructions with the account holder.
It is alleged the transfers were approved because the former employee knew the bank’s internal procedures and used her influence and former position as an account manager to bully and cajole staff into doing as she wished. She also regularly threatened to move the account – allegedly Citibank’s largest at the time – to another bank if her requests were not met.
Mr Mikutta, who lives in Zurich, apparently failed to detect his account was being depleted because he was given periodic performance data purporting to show his money was in safe hands.
His lawyers admit Mr Mikutta contributed to his losses by failing to notice what was happening, but still argue the bank was largely to blame for allowing the transfers to occur.
The civil case follows attempts by Mr Mikutta’s lawyers to negotiate a settlement, which they say Citibank rejected.
The bank, which has hired one of Switzerland’s best-known legal firms to defend it, said last night: “In the civil litigation against Citibank (Switzerland) we believe it is without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously.”
The criminal case has been postponed until August after a change of defence lawyer.