2018-8-17 20:07 |
UK Bank Freezes Crypto Investors Accounts and Seizes Holdings for Further Investigation
A victim, which News.Bitcoin.com named, John claims to have had his crypto accounts frozen and locked out of by UK bank. John has been involved within the crypto sector for years now, as he has tried different things like trading, mining and even taking on a role of a senior representative within a crypto project. The shock of it all was that the UK based, Clydesdale Bank, had no apparent reason to doubt John.
To date, John holds a clean record – neither having been convicted for any illegal activities nor failing to report everything in his taxes. It seems that the decision to freeze his bank account came of surprise to him, as no prior warnings were issued.
In particular, he shared:
“I had my bank account frozen and my funds taken hostage by Clydesdale Bank without any warning or explanation […] I was eventually told by the branch manager that it no longer wanted to do business with “these type of people [crypto investors”
How It All HappenedJohn explained that he noticed his Clydesdale bank account was frozen upon trying to log into it. Instead of showing his account information, a message popped up, which read “sorry, were no longer able to assist you online.”
As he made several phone calls, which were transferred from one department to another, a representative from the headquarters responded that a letter was on its way and that “he couldn’t say anything more about what was happening or whether or not [his] balance was safe.” Ultimately, no guarantee was given that he could withdraw his funds, implying that it was currently under the bank’s control.
Another day, Another British Crypto VictimThis is not the first case of its kind, as yet another British citizen faced similar consequences. Based on the claims made, the unnamed individual had his house raided as early as 6:30 am and the reason being, “for cashing out 500,000 in Bitcoin back in December 2017, arrested for money laundering and possession of criminal property in the UK.”
After having released the individual, they were informed of still being “under investigation”. Several assumptions of the individual’s occupation were also made, but at the end of the day, the cause of the mayhem, according to the individual, was the bank’s action of freezing the accounts.
The difference between the cases of John and the unnamed individual, is that the former withdrew his amounts gradually, while the latter withdrew a large sum on their first try. Still, John’s accounts were frozen due to his progressive involvement in cryptocurrencies.
News.Bitcoin.com also shared a picture of what seems like a search warrant, prior to the individual’s house raid. The search was clearly based on bank statements, which showed involvement in cryptocurrencies between the years 2012 and 2018. The warrant further wrote that it was necessary to check related tech devices including “laptops, computers, mobile phones, USB memory sticks, memory cards and other external storage.”
As for John’s funds, they have since been safely stored in a new bank account he was forced to establish. He said,
“Being treated like a criminal (without proof nor cause) by an organization that I’ve been loyal to for over 20 years has seriously pissed me off.”
Clearly, the feud between banks and the crypto sphere still exists. With the UK bank’s increased control in the two mentioned cases above, it is no wonder that investors around the world are yearning for a decentralized system. What are your thoughts on these cases? Is it time to let go of centralized institutions?
Similar to Notcoin - TapSwap on Solana Airdrops In 2024
Emerald Crypto (EMD) íà Currencies.ru
|
