Yorkshire Bank disaster.

Jurgen_Cheese

Hi All,

I am a new member here and I joined specifically to try and get some advice about a serious problem I am having with the Yorkshire Bank. I hope you will be good enough to throw your sage advice in to help.

I have a 20 year old Instant acces saver account. It is not used regularly as savings and I rarely share the same bed. However I recently consulted for a Dutch company and I elected to be paid into said account. The amount was close to £20k.

I took a chunk out some months ago, and when I returned recently to withdraw some more of my money I was told "the transaction cannot be completed at this time."

I asked why, they repeat the same line. I ask for the manager and they repeat the same line. I ask when, they repeat the same infuriating sentence.

The complaints dept and the telephone customer assistance people are also reading from the same script.

There is no argument over the balance, they are happy with my ID. They simply wont give me my money, they wont tell me why, and they wont tell me when the position will change.

I believe that the account has been blocked because of a suspician of fraud. I do not know whether I am the suspected fraudster, or a fraud has been attempted on the account by a third party. I believe this because of the strange way they are all behaving.

Tomorrow I shall visit the branch again. I want my money back.

I will be making a formal complaint to the ombudsman, but in the meantime I really have better things to do.

Be careful where you put your money, and avoid these idiots like the plague. Until I learn otherwise the Yorkshire Bank have stolen my money.

jonesMUFCforever

You are probably correct in the assumption that this is due to money laundering regulations.
For one momemt step back and look at it from their end - an account you say that you do not use on a regular basis suddenly gets a big credit of £20k and then you start withdrawing the funds ..........how does it look to you?
If you are legit then you will have to wait for them to conclude their investigation - there will not be a time limit on this - why did you elect to use this account?

colsten

Jurgen_Cheese wrote: »

It is not used regularly as savings and I rarely share the same bed.

Best keeping it clean and not going into details about the bed sharing

Jurgen_Cheese

I elected to use this account because I wished to keep it seperate from my normal bank account.

Is that not the purpose of savings accounts ? To store funds which are not immediatly required. For safe keeping and maybe even earn some interest.

I am familiar with KYC and money laundering regs, but this is ludicrous. I withdrew some money 3 months ago, and now I want to withdraw some more. Its hardly Mexican Drug Cartel territory - on an account I have used for 20 years !

If they have a problem they know where I am -'ask me some questions and give me some answers.

My Yorkshire Bank instant access account is a fabulous product, unless you either wish to keep money there, or withdraw said funds.

This is a cheap scam under the guise of regulation, Yorkshire Bank are not fit to hold a license.

xylophone

the Yorkshire Bank have stolen my money.

They haven't - that is a gross exaggeration, not to say libel?

You chose to have a relatively large sum paid by a foreign entity into a rarely used twenty year old account - it is surprising that a query was not raised with you at this point.

Did it not occur to you that your action might flag up the question of money laundering or fraud?

Why did you not choose to have the money paid into a business account?

And as to

I rarely share the same bed.

What does this have to do with the matter?

Jurgen_Cheese

Not libel as it is true.

They are depriving me of my funds without explanation. You can call it something different if you want, but If I told you I would take your cash for safe keeping, and then not return it on demand as per our agreement, then I am quite sure you would have some choice words for me. Thief, scam artist, conman etc.

If they have an issue with the source of my funds me then they should ask me. I believe that we are still in the EU and I am entitled to work and earn money in the EU. Blocking the account without explanation, for as long as they see fit, is a disgusting way to treat a customer/victim.

And lets get some perspective here £20k a lot of money ? Really ? This mob were fined £25m last year for lying to the regulator.

Jurgen_Cheese

xylophone wrote: »

They haven't - that is a gross exaggeration, not to say libel?

You chose to have a relatively large sum paid by a foreign entity into a rarely used twenty year old account - it is surprising that a query was not raised with you at this point.

Did it not occur to you that your action might flag up the question of money laundering or fraud?

Why did you not choose to have the money paid into a business account?

And as to What does this have to do with the matter?

To be honest I find your remarks quite absurd. No it did not occur to me that I might be accused of wrong doing. I am a law abiding citizen, why would paying hard earned money into a bank account see me accused of money laundering ?

I am sorry but some evidence of criminality is usually associated with such accusations.

KingS6

Is it not more prudent to wait for a face to face encounter at the branch and see what their reaction is? They could well have a solution there and then. If you launch a full blown complaint you may tie up the money for an even longer spell.

xylophone

Not libel as it is true.

I draw your attention to the legal definition of theft.

A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it

I do not think that you can claim that the above is true in respect of the action taken by Yorkshire Bank.

Your account showed unusual activity with the crediting of a relatively large sum from a foreign source.

You claim that

I am familiar with KYC and money laundering regs,

Then why did it not occur to you that unusual activity on your account would flag up money laundering/ fraud concerns?

Jurgen_Cheese

xylophone wrote: »

I draw your attention to the legal definition of theft.

A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it

I do not think that you can claim that the above is true in respect of the action taken by Yorkshire Bank.

Your account showed unusual activity with the crediting of a relatively large sum from a foreign source.

You claim that

Then why did it not occur to you that unusual activity on your account would flag up money laundering/ fraud concerns?

The Yorkshire bank are refusing to give me my money. They refuse to discuss the matter. I would say that they are permanently depriving me of it. How does that differ from the definition of theft ?

With regards to you definition of unusal activity, again I do not agree. The money was transfered from Holland - not Panama - not BVA - not Nigeria. An EU country where thousands of UK citizens work and do business everyday.

However the thrust of your advise appears to be that you believe it is my fault for having money, and that I should take greater care on how I explain the situation when posting on forums.

Do you have anything else to add ?

Jurgen_Cheese

KingS6 wrote: »

Is it not more prudent to wait for a face to face encounter at the branch and see what their reaction is? They could well have a solution there and then. If you launch a full blown complaint you may tie up the money for an even longer spell.

I have visited the branch 8 times to try and resolve the matter.

I shall be returning today.