Barclays Took £2 Million from me

CKhalvashi

grumbler wrote: »

That's really a relief...
Well, AFAIK free business accounts are rare if not extinct, but I guess the OP will be wiser from now on.

If you're willing to move around banks every so often, it can be.

I pay HSBC less than £10/month/business for business banking, and assuming the majority of OP's transactions are electronic, then (s)he can too.

Many banks have offers like this.

clutters

Poppyoscar - I am talking to a lawyer on Monday.

meer53

clutters wrote: »

Poppyoscar - I am talking to a lawyer on Monday.

Don't pay for legal advice. If your accounts have been frozen because of AML checks, no-one will be able to get any info for you. The solicitor may be able to help you get any fees back but you could do this yourself with Barclays or the FOS for free.

Thrugelmir

clutters wrote: »

On 24th Septmeber I logged into my online banking to pay someone and noticed that £500,000 had been taken from 4 accounts. One personal, one savings and two business accounts.

How was £500,000 removed from a savings account? Is it now overdrawn.

How was the money removed? Did Barclays transfer it.

puk999

liamsteven

deleted, not relavant to thread.

StressedSteph

Hi Clutters,

I find it really odd that Barclays won't sit you down and explain why your accounts are in such a mess. Are they legally allowed to withhold information that you are under investigation for Money Laundering??. I find it weird to think that such a large organisation would not have the balls to justify their actions.??

I presume you have opened a new bank account and are now paying any monies earnt into a new account??. You have said how far overdrawn they have made you but not how much of your own money they have taken?

Are you able to pay staff, bills etc with earnings since the Barclays account went haywire??

I am also hoping you have moved all direct debits etc out of Barclays? I have a personal hate of Barclays and would never use them again, after all of this I assume you will feel the same so you may as well move to a new bank and operate all payments from there. then you can leave the Barclays account to hopefully sort itself out in time without it negatively effecting your business any further.

Good luck

grumbler

StressedSteph wrote: »

I find it really odd that Barclays won't sit you down and explain why your accounts are in such a mess. Are they legally allowed to withhold information that you are under investigation for Money Laundering??. I find it weird to think that such a large organisation would not have the balls to justify their actions.??

Will you find it odd and weird that they are acting like the stupid AML regulations suggest (except debiting £500K from all accounts that is a distinctive feature of Barclays's AML Pinkertons' behaviour)?

chris_m

StressedSteph wrote: »

Are they legally allowed to withhold information that you are under investigation for Money Laundering??.

If that is the reason it's not so much "legally allowed" as "legally required". Under the AML rules it is against the law for a subject to be informed that an investigation is ongoing.

Which makes sense if you think about it;
Bank; "Hello Mr suspected Drug Dealer, you are being investigated for money laundering."
"Mr suspected DD" - (thinks) "oh sh**, I'd better empty all my other accounts quickly before those get frozen too"

grumbler

chris_m wrote: »

Which makes sense if you think about it;

No, it doesn't - if you really think. If Mr Drug Dealer's account gets frozen, he instantly knows the most likely reason. So all this stupid secrecy is nothing more than a secret of Polichinelle.