NatWest holding my cash to ransom

colsten

henm2 wrote: »

Yes tax evasion is a form of money laundering.

It is not the job of any bank to make a judgement on whether a builder will avoid tax. End of.

ollylee

lulu should ask did you get your cash out in the end?

if not what we had to do was go in with a load of documentation. the branch manager still didn't lift the freeze off the account so we went to head office.

it was a personal account that got frozen for us. we had to prove where the money came from and went in with our business bank statements.

some advice to make things move quickly if you've not had your money ...

- ask them exactly what they want to see in the way of documentation, as well as if print outs are good enough or formal documentation
- try to get that documentation
- if they can't sort it out locally, ask the branch manager for a contact at head office
- keep going up the chain in head office if you don't get progress

if you are blocked at local level then it's likely your online services and telephony services will get blocked too (or could be soon)

henm2

"It is not the job of any bank to make a judgement on whether a builder will avoid tax. End of."

Not according to the FCA "We make sure that firms stick to our rules and take appropriate measures to prevent them from being used as a channel for financial crime." https://www.fca.org.uk/about/what/enforcing

lulu999

Yes I did get my money out, but only after having given her a reason.
(I needed the money and didn't have the time to go away and come back at a later date.)

Her initial reason for the intrusive question was money laundering, which is the process of taking criminal proceedings and making them appear legitimate. The funds in my account have only ever been transferred there with an electronic audit trail. Which is why I informed her that was not the case and that she should have refused the funds entering my account in the first place if that was her concern.

She then changed her argument to me being potentially under duress to withdraw funds. Again, I answered that by informing her that I wasn't and whether she really believed that was the case. You had to be there to realise how preposterous her comment was.

She was now clutching at straws with her reasons for asking the initial question and didn't want to back down.
This is when she said I wasn't getting my money without telling her what I was spending it on. Now, having put herself into an impossible position of no return.

I am a very private person, I realise how information is used to monitor and track citizens. I don't use debit/credit cards for day to day purchases, I use cash. I have withdrawn cash in the past (considerably larger amounts than this time) and have been asked the same question. I have always declined to provide an answer and they have always issued me with my money without fuss.

I work in the financial industry (investment not retail banking) but used to know how far they're allowed to go with intrusion (hence my original question on the legality of her behaviour).
She can ask and, I can decline.

What I choose to spend my money on down the line is NOT her concern. Am I to be prevented access to my money because someone I pay, may do something illegal with that money.

All she needs to concern herself with is that the money I want to withdraw is clean, has not been the proceeds of criminal activity and is legitimately mine. Checks should have been made accepting the money into the bank, not afterwards.

[Deleted User]

lulu999 wrote: »

I am a very private person, I realise how information is used to monitor and track citizens. I don't use debit/credit cards for day to day purchases, I use cash.

Do you wear your tin foil hat while out shopping? It's the only way to stop them tracking your every move, you know?

I'm surprised you even have a bank account. After all, they know when you are in the bank or at an ATM and take money out.

ceredigion

I know it is an old fashioned view, but are we still not innocent until proven otherwise. It really should be the bank / government to prove a fraud not you prove your self innocent . After all it is nigh on impossible to prove a negative .

Bogof_Babe

So if I withdraw £250 a day for a few days from an ATM, am I at risk of my account being frozen?

ollylee

hmmm ...

years back done a gig for an offhsore investment bank , we built a system called paranoid that basically mined transactions across the board (all accounts) to see if there was any patterns that would "raise concern", it churned away 24x7 and that was back in 2001. the SFO were on hand to help us get it right - put in a PC way.

so for the ATM query, yes, if there is something picked up somewhere :-(

for the OP, seems they have just gone to a branch and they have queried. could be anything at all (likely randomness).

jonesMUFCforever

Part quoted from post 45 lulu99
''I work in the financial industry (investment not retail banking) but used to know how far they're allowed to go with intrusion (hence my original question on the legality of her behaviour).
She can ask and, I can decline.

What I choose to spend my money on down the line is NOT her concern. Am I to be prevented access to my money because someone I pay, may do something illegal with that money.

All she needs to concern herself with is that the money I want to withdraw is clean, has not been the proceeds of criminal activity and is legitimately mine. Checks should have been made accepting the money into the bank, not afterwards.''

Your argument fails because you are using THEIR facilities to run your account - THEY are the ones who will be left in the s&^t if it follows that YOUR money was used in an illegal way.

robatwork

lulu999 wrote: »

Yes I did get my money out, but only after having given her a reason.
(I needed the money and didn't have the time to go away and come back at a later date.)

Now I'm almost tempted to go to my bank to do a large cash transaction to see just what answers are accepted. Are there any bank counter staff in here who would care to share what they are told to look for as (in)valid answers?

I will start with "I intend to spend it on myself". Will move to "intend to spend it on my wife".

After wooly answers I may move to sarcy ones. "Gummi bears, lots and lots of gummi bears". "Change it to 2p pieces and going for a loooong weekend at skegness pier slot machines". "Buying a sandwich and want the £19,997 for personal reasons". "Good reasons"

Then maybe the truth "To test what reasons you accept for cash withdrawal"

Half truths "My architect wants to be paid in cash" "The border guards in Turkmenistan don't accept faster payments"

Likelies: "Buying a car from Fast Ray Car Emporium and avoiding the cheque admin fee" "Changing money to take abroad and it's commission free for cash rather than debit card" "Dog needs operation and vet wants to see money up front"

Feel free to pick one and try it.

It's a nonsense whatever the banks try to dress it up as.