Barclays terminating my account without explanation
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Pretty much.Thank you for your answer which is very informative.
Just for clarity I will summarise my understanding of the process as you have described. I am also quite happy to accept your statements regarding possible prison sentences for bank staff.
1. A bank staff member has suspicion of money laundering and reports it to the relevant department in the bank.
2. The bank decide that there is some possible substance to the suggestion of money laundering.
3. The bank informs the police who investigate the issue but decide that there is insufficient evidence and inform the bank of this.
4. The bank decide to close the bank account but cannot reveal the reason for fear of possible prison time.
5. There is insufficient evidence for the police to instigate any criminal proceedings but the bank account holder has had their account closed. They do not know why and at no point are they aware that the police have investigated them so have never had any right of reply.
6. The justification for never giving a reason is that it would give the game away to the suspected money launderer.
I do have one further question which is whether a bank ever decides to close an account before the police investigation is concluded?
I would understand if you declined to answer for fear of falling foul of the AML legislation.
I don't know the answer to your final question.0 -
Err... guys... I am not laundering money and nothing in my bank statements supports any theory of criminal or inappropriate activity
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I never said you were. The bank may suspect it. They may not. How do you know that your account doesn't match that of one used for small scale criminal placement of laundered money though?0 -
PeacefulWaters, I do not understand this. How exactly can one account match a different account being used for illicit purposes?PeacefulWaters wrote: »I never said you were. The bank may suspect it. They may not. How do you know that your account doesn't match that of one used for small scale criminal placement of laundered money though?
John, Apologies for using your thread to examine these issues. You have my sympathy for all that has happened to you. Perhaps once you are absolved Barclays will apologise to you. I say this also because I believe in the presumption of innocence unless proven otherwise.0 -
PeacefulWaters, I do not understand this. How exactly can one account match a different account being used for illicit purposes?
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The number, size and frequency of transactions?
Seems obvious to me. Remember, these things are done by scanning & analysis software, not human beings.The questions that get the best answers are the questions that give most detail....0 -
The OP has said that his account had an insignificant number of transactions for insignificant amounts.The number, size and frequency of transactions?
Seems obvious to me. Remember, these things are done by scanning & analysis software, not human beings.
If your comment was general you maybe should have mentioned that it does not appear to have been the cause in this particular case.
Or are you saying that their criteria may match the usage described by the OP? If that is true, God help us all!0 -
My best guess is that this is a somewhat warped profit and loss decision by Barclays based on an offset mortgage where savings balances exceed the debt.The OP has said that his account had an insignificant number of transactions for insignificant amounts.
If your comment was general you maybe should have mentioned that it does not appear to have been the cause in this particular case.
Or are you saying that their criteria may match the usage described by the OP? If that is true, God help us all!
But the transaction patterns where money laundering occurs can vary between big and small amounts, multiple daily ins and outs and minimal to virtually no activity for extended periods. I'm not going to ask the OP to supply a bank statement for an opinion. But none of us know what the OP's transactions look like (generic statements of nothing standing out mean little) so assuming he's all clear is a leap of faith.
When I use the word "matching" that doesn't mean exactly. Too many variables to play with.
Maybe Barclays have had genuine money laundering issues with offset mortgages.0 -
PeacefulWaters,
Thank you for your latest response. It is helping me to build up a picture of this whole issue, both in general and specifically in this case.
More importantly, I hope that it is helping @JohnGalt to make some sense of this whole affair.0 -
No worries. I just wish I could make statements with absolute certainty.PeacefulWaters,
Thank you for your latest response. It is helping me to build up a picture of this whole issue, both in general and specifically in this case.
I'd be surprised if an innocent man (my assumption) could ever quite come to terms with it.More importantly, I hope that it is helping @JohnGalt to make some sense of this whole affair.
I'd be getting new accounts set up elsewhere now and considering repaying the mortgage in full.0 -
PeacefulWaters wrote: »No worries. I just wish I could make statements with absolute certainty.
I'd be surprised if an innocent man (my assumption) could ever quite come to terms with it.
I have a wry smile on my face because earlier in this thread I was pulled up because of the user name I chose (John Galt - a character hero from a famous book about ideals relatng to capatilism/communism)... I had considered 'Honest John' but decided not to as that might suggest the opposite... but for the record I am (honest) - thanks for giving me the benefit of any doubt.
I did this with my current account immediately it was confirmed as genuine - and HSBC rewarded me for doing so.PeacefulWaters wrote: »I'd be getting new accounts set up elsewhere now and considering repaying the mortgage in full.
Today I visited the bank again - in the process of asking for a redemption figure it turns out that I have another 'Mortgage Current Account' that I was unaware of and this is allowed to remain. I have transferred monies across so my offset mortgage can continue being serviced whilst I figure my next move. Hence any thoughts of not making money from my offset account can be discounted (because that situation remains available).
Throughout this whole process the bank staff have been as perplexed as me - they can see my account transactions and (to the extent they have inspected them) can see no wrong doing. Although the decision is above their paygrade they've supported me quite admirably... just wish I could make sense of the decision (that's all I have asked for - to remove the uncertainty/ambiguity/anxiety).0
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