Santander Blocked 27 September 2022 at 12:11PM in Budgeting & bank accounts 38 replies 3K views

123thfc123

I deposites £8920 cash last wed into my personal account. I explained where the money came from etc. My account was blocked straight away. I can no longer make any transactions. If I phone up all I hear is a statement saying I can't make any transactions etc and no time scale etc this is absolutely disgusting. 6 days without any money and not knowing when this will be sorted. Has anyone had any similar experiences and If so how long did it take to sort out?

Thanks 

Astria

They've probably submitted a suspicious activity report to HMRC, who will likely get in touch with you over the coming week or so. The length of the investigation typically depends on what other deposits you've made, how long you've had the account, what your job is, your salary, self-employed typically raises the most red flags.

What documentary evidence you handed over also changes the duration of the investigation, if you just said where the money came from it will likely take longer as they may want to perform anti-money laundering investigations as well.

400ixl

Sounds like your account is being investigated for suspicious activity such as money laundering. All you can do is wait for them to complete their investigation which will either release the block on the account or close it and you will be returned any funds in the account.

They are not allowed to tell you why they are investigating or how long it will take.

Where did the money come from that you were transferring in?

This is one of the reasons you should always have more than one account with the ability to utilise emergency funds should any account be blocked for investigation.

123thfc123

They never asked for documentary evidence. I can provide that. They just asked where the money came from. 

123thfc123

400ixl said:

Sounds like your account is being investigated for suspicious activity such as money laundering. All you can do is wait for them to complete their investigation which will either release the block on the account or close it and you will be returned any funds in the account.

They are not allowed to tell you why they are investigating or how long it will take.

Where did the money come from that you were transferring in?

This is one of the reasons you should always have more than one account with the ability to utilise emergency funds should any account be blocked for investigation.

I sold 2 greyhounds that I own. 

Astria

400ixl said:

This is one of the reasons you should always have more than one account with the ability to utilise emergency funds should any account be blocked for investigation.

Although if HMRC suspect foul play, those accounts can quickly become blocked as well, which is why cash is always king.

123thfc123 said:

They never asked for documentary evidence. I can provide that. They just asked where the money came from. 

They may well request it soon enough considering the amount. Hopefully you still have some cash for day to day use.

oldagetraveller1

"Where did the money come from that you were transferring in?"

The OP writes that they deposited the money in cash. "I deposites £8920 cash last wed into my personal account."

If that's the case then it would have been wise to have documented proof, whether asked for or not.

"Where has this come from?". "Oh, my Auntie Fanny gave it to me!"

123thfc123

It was deposited into an ATM deposit machine. As said I sold 2 greyhounds that I own. Again I can provide documentation for this. 

Astria

123thfc123 said:

It was deposited into an ATM deposit machine. As said I sold 2 greyhounds that I own. Again I can provide documentation for this. 

Santander ATM machine? I thought they had a limit of 30 notes per transaction or something like that. The amount may have been increased since.

Don't think I'd have the balls to accept £9000 in cash off someone though to be honest, let alone carry it to an ATM machine!

Are you sure all the notes were real? Could be another reason for freezing your account.

Last time I asked to deposit more than £5000 I had to sit in a private room with someone to deposit it as the cashiers weren't allowed to deposit the funds directly, they wanted the ID of the person giving me the funds as well as my ID.

123thfc123

You are allowed to deposit 50 notes at any 1 time. I just lodged 1000 and then kept going. 

Astria

123thfc123 said:

You are allowed to deposit 50 notes at any 1 time. I just lodged 1000 and then kept going. 

Well 9 deposits of £1000 would certainly trigger most banks suspicious activity alarms and freeze your account until a human looked over the deposits, and then probably forwarded it onto HMRC and Fraud/money laundering departments.