Barclays Froze my £19k for no reason - please help !!!

milfordmadness

SADIA wrote: »

No, the money was not received in a fraudulent manner, nor was it a refund. It was cash deposits and transfer from my own other account with Natwest. Even in Natwest, the money came from my own cash deposits so don't know why they are doing this to me...

I'd assume that as you paid cash in and tried to take cash out it does indeed look like a classic money laundering issue. I'd write to the bank or go in with proof of Natwest statements and also report to the police and get a crime ref number. If the police trust you and give you a crime number then the banks have to take on board "why would you notify the police about yourself if you're dodgy?".....

SADIA wrote: »

i will definately be visiting Citizen's Advice Bearau soon but do you think i should report to the police now or wait even more - its been 10 days ???

I'd get myself to a solicitor/citizens advice asap. don't delay!

SADIA wrote: »

how long was your account frozen for, if you don't mind me asking?

It was frozen for 2 days as I sent a summons direct to the branch manager for theft, long story but she wimped out and released funds. I was blagging her, technically if she'd checked things out with head office they'd have kept the funds until I proved they were legit and never originated from drugs/crime etc....

Best of luck...:A

PROLIANT

noh wrote: »

When did Barclays cease to be a "British Bank" ?

....when they outsourced their call centres to Asia.

SADIA_3

Thankyou to all who have given their valuable advice to me.
I called the Head of Customer Relations again (who is my only point of contact for this case) just now and to my surprise he answered the fone and said that the money has been transferred to "Consumer Finance Department" in error and he is waiting to hear from that department and has also contacted Barclay's IT department to look into this. He suggested that it could take another couple of days. I don't understand why they do not reimburse my account if they have made an error. He did not mention anything about money laundering and i do not owe anything to Barclays either in cerdit cards or loans!

I understand that i have deposited a lot of money into this account over a short period of time and then tried to withdraw £17k (CASH) out of it but its my money and nothing to do with money laundering or anything !!! Am i not allowed to deposit and then subsequently withdraw it? is it considered money laundering?

i do not have a savings account with them but did not intend to leave the money in the account for long so did not open a savings account and deposited all the money into my current account.

i will surely go to the police today and report the matter and contact citizen's advice beaurau tomorrow...its not looking good as they seem to be taking forever to resolve the matter

noh

SADIA wrote: »

I understand that i have deposited a lot of money into this account over a short period of time and then tried to withdraw £17k (CASH) out of it but its my money and nothing to do with money laundering or anything !!! Am i not allowed to deposit and then subsequently withdraw it? is it considered money laundering?

You are allowed to deposit the money and withdraw it in cash. Doing so is not money laundering but your transactions could raise suspicions that you are involved in such activities.

milfordmadness

Sadia,

Just for a minute sit back and look how things look, from a banks point of view. Whilst i'm not sticking up for them it appears they've got AML flags and they have flagged the "unusual" activity within your account - perfectly normal.

Best to have a chat with them and let them know you understand how things must look, and you're aware of Anti Money Laundering (google it for info) and what proof do they require in order to release the funds? Put the ball in their court, legally if they suspect AML they must not let you know they think this, although keeping your money is a bit of a giveaway LOL

Thing you need to do is get the funds back, first and foremost then deal with action for compo - but for the moment be willing to bend over backwards to prove to the bank you're innocent and have nothing to hide. I know you shouldn't have to but at the end of the day if it helps get your cash back then do it!

milfordmadness

noh wrote: »

You are allowed to deposit the money and withdraw it in cash. Doing so is not money laundering but your transactions could raise suspicions that you are involved in such activities.

Exactly, why would someone withdraw £17k from Natwest and pay into Barclays to then withdraw in cash again a few weeks later? It does "seem" dodgy, that's how the bank's will be seeing things too.

One question remains open; why didnt you do an online funds transfer? This problem wouldn't exist if you'd done that

kazwookie

Sadia

There is a £10K cash limit before the bank has to report for 'possible' money laundering.

People who pay large amounts of cash into their accounts, (business or personal) are automatically highlighted to the bank. Most people pay via BACS or cheque for goods, you may need to prove how you got this money in cash.

Maybe if this money was from a business, go to your local Barclays and ask to see the local business manager, and try and sort it out with them.

Good luck with it all.

milfordmadness

tibtib wrote: »

Taking an amount of money that large is always going to raise eyebrows!

Thanks for reiterating the obvious :T

ShelfStacker_3

noh wrote: »

You are allowed to deposit the money and withdraw it in cash. Doing so is not money laundering but your transactions could raise suspicions that you are involved in such activities.

noh is entirely correct. Large cash deposits followed by equally large cash withdrawals, especially those out of character with the way the account is usually run, are classic signs of money laundering. Barclays are legally required to report all suspicions of money laundering, and legally barred from telling you that you're under suspicion. Any other financial institution would see things the same way.

As for noah's suggestion of involving the police, that's utterly ludicrous. Feel free to try it, but don't expect a positive (or even useful) response.

milfordmadness

ShelfStacker wrote: »

As for noah's suggestion of involving the police, that's utterly ludicrous. Feel free to try it, but don't expect a positive (or even useful) response.

Explain why it is "utterly ludicrous", obviously in your personal opinion of course? I totally disagree, at the end of the day the bank have a god damned duty to inform their customer why they have frozen the funds, not leave them in limbo. We aint talking £50 here, we're speaking almost £20k! i.e. more than a bank clerk earns in a year! Factual.

That is my point, and it is 100% spot-on. The bank is wrong, ultimately as they have given no explanation to the customer the customer is obliged to report it as a theft. Simple. Its the law.....:T