Joseph Thomas stole two signed cashier's checks from a loan officer's desk at Chase Lincoln First Bank, N.A.Thomas wrote $200,000 as the amount of one check and $300,000 as the amount of the other, and made them payable to the order of his brother-in-law.Posing as his brother-in-law, Thomas presented the checks to the Tropicana Casino.A casino employee who contacted Chase was told that the $200,000 check was "good," that there were adequate funds to cover it, and that there was no stop-payment order on the $300,000 check.Thomas gambled away most of the money before Chase stopped payment on the checks.The owner of the Tropicana, Adamar of New Jersey, Inc., filed a suit in a New York state court against the bank to recover the $500,000.