A Los Angeles woman claimed she was racially profiled and locked inside a Citi bank building after being accused of possessing a fraudulent check.

Janice Mofus, 22, better known as Baby Storme on TikTok, told L.A. Weekly she was attempting to deposit a $30,000 check at the Los Angeles Citi bank on Sunset Boulevard, Tuesday. The check was sent by Mofus’ father to cover rent for the span of a year.

@babystorme♬ original sound – Baby Storme

Mofus said a Citi Bank teller took the check, told her it was being confiscated, while locking the exits until police were called.

The teller allegedly told her there were issues with the process since Mofus had originally opened her account at a New York branch.

“The conversation escalated… when she confiscated the check and said that she couldn’t give it back to me,” Mofus told L.A. Weekly. “She just kept repeating that she couldn’t verify the check, but the sender of the check was my dad.”

That is when Mofus asked the teller to call her father to verify the check and the teller allegedly refused.

Several parts of the incident were recorded by Mofus and posted for her 900,000 TikTok followers to see on Tuesday.

@babystorme♬ original sound – Baby Storme

In the videos, an employee can be seen lowering the security cage at the front entrance, with the employee saying the doors were locked because the bank was closed.

There was one open door, according to Mofus, but the employee stood in front of it and blocked access to it.

“She physically said that I could not leave until the cops get there, because they also called the cops on me, wrongfully, for no reason at all,” Mofus said. “She told him (a second Citi employee) to put the gates down. The only door that was even open for me to exit, was a side door, but he was standing and guarding the door and said I couldn’t leave.”

After about 10 minutes of back-and-forth arguments with the employee who took her check, Mofus said it was eventually returned, as she left the bank and sat in her car for several minutes to calm her nerves and relay her experience on social media.

Citi has been made aware of the claims made by Mofus and are investigating the incident.

“We have spoken with Janice Mofus and are working closely with her to resolve the issue in question,” Citi told L.A. Weekly Thursday. “We are taking this matter very seriously and have launched a thorough investigation into what transpired on Tuesday.”

Since Mofus posted the video to her @babystorme TikTok account, the Citi branch on Sunset began to see in influx of negative Yelp reviews, forcing the app to place a “Public attention alert,” and temporarily disabling the ability to comment on the bank’s Yelp page.

Mofus said she planned to seek legal representation and felt her treatment was racially motivated.

“It’s definitely a racial thing, for sure,” Mofus said. “At that point, I feel like it’s above me and just, like, a way bigger issue that just needs awareness.”

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