Vulnerable Person who opened an account using a fake name now struggling to withdraw cash using his real name

[Gordon Gekko]

I took exception to the request because it was the same person who opened my account without question denied the transaction.

The same person can quite conceivably do you a favour on the way in but be forced to impose the rules if you start acting the maggot on the way out.

The only learning from your scenario is that the staff member should not have cut you any slack when you were opening the account.

 

[Leo]

I remember as a kid opening up a BoI account. I absolutely had no ID and im pretty certain same went for my parents.. no passports, no drivers licenses. Seems that this was par for the course back then and it was only over the years that banks started to retrospectively look for ID for these accounts.

But didn't all the banks write to customers when these regulations came into effect? I know I was contacted to provide additional data to prove my identity some years ago.

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

But didn't all the banks write to customers when these regulations came into effect?

Presumably yes, but I don't think it is relevant. Banks routinely seek this information from law-abiding customers who often have other things to be doing than sending off proof of address to their bank. Lack of compliance by the customer does not remove the bank's obligation to return the customer's deposits to them on request!

The flag on the a/c is more likely due to fraud risk due to long-term inactivity. The account holder is in fairness not who he said he was

 

[Leo]

The flag on the a/c is more likely due to fraud risk due to long-term inactivity. The account holder is in fairness not who he said he was

Yeah, all a bit of a mess potentially compounded by the account holder presenting as the owner back in 2011 only to disappear once challenged to prove ownership.

 

[Leper]

1. Somebody opens an account with an Irish financial institution to "hide" money. A false name is supplied. This cannot be legal.
2. I'm surprised about the amount of sympathy offered by many posters here and worse again advice on illegal transactions.
3. I've told the truth all my life about my financial affairs and couldn't get local authority mortgage, couldn't get university grants for my offspring, couldn't get full pensions, couldn't get fuel allowance and to be honest couldn't get anything. Tell lies and you get everything; that's what I see.
4. Sorry, irrespective of circumstances this whole episode is under the counter, tax dodging, illegal, unfair etc

 

[Marsupial]

1. Somebody opens an account with an Irish financial institution to "hide" money. A false name is supplied. This cannot be legal.
2. I'm surprised about the amount of sympathy offered by many posters here and worse again advice on illegal transactions.
3. I've told the truth all my life about my financial affairs and couldn't get local authority mortgage, couldn't get university grants for my offspring, couldn't get full pensions, couldn't get fuel allowance and to be honest couldn't get anything. Tell lies and you get everything; that's what I see.
4. Sorry, irrespective of circumstances this whole episode is under the counter, tax dodging, illegal, unfair etc

You're not reading the room! Bear in mind that it's always the bank's fault ...... irrespective of the reality.

That's according to the Book of The Begrudger, Chapter 6, verse iv:- "We bailed them out and now look what they've done to me"!!

 

[Clamball]

I think this topic is about an elderly man who cannot access his life savings because of decisions he made 40 years ago when mentally ill.

I think most posters have a lot of sympathy with people who have mental illnesses. The law usually understands that when they do something illegal it is not through malice, or greed, it is just due to an illness.

The main suggestions to the op were methods to escalate the issue, to put it before senior staff or regulators who could decide on the balance of all the available evidence who was the beneficial owner of the money. There is no guarantee of success, no one saying the banks are the baddies, just try these things and see where it takes you. I think we know that the more senior a person you can get involved the more chance that all the evidence is looked at in the round. Or they can offer solutions that the op may have not thought of etc.

 

[DeeKie]

Any update OP? It’s an interesting one. A lot of organisations have a specific team dealing with vulnerable accounts. You could ask does EBS have a group. I wonder would a letter from your poor Dad’s doctor about his condition help
at all. A retired bank manager who remembers him might too. Good luck with it.

 

[ClubMan]

Any update OP? It’s an interesting one. A lot of organisations have a specific team dealing with vulnerable accounts. You could ask does EBS have a group.

The original post literally says...

it went to their (EBS's) legal and vulnerable team).

 

[PMU]

It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that a delinquent bank official has looted most if not all of your father’s account. The account has a different name than your father's name and is not supported by ID, has no address, etc. The bank is required to notify the account holder at his/her last known address, but in this case there is no such address. And furthermore, according to your first post, your father did not provide ID when asked to do so in 2011. So a delinquent official loots the a/c and moves on. No one knows this has happened until you contacted the institution. So the money is gone; the delinquent official has moved; and some manager now has a problem that is not of his/her making. So you will be stonewalled and the remaining money eventually passed to the Dormant Accounts Board. Then you have another institution to deal with that will most likely say they are just operating the Act and the issues you have raised should be addressed to the financial institution. There is at least one equivalent example of this on AAM. Bank say account closed all savings gone? | Askaboutmoney.com - the Irish consumer forum.
You say your father was asked for ID in 2011 but not when he last carried out a transaction. You say you have account books so it would be prudent to confirm when the last transaction took place so you can calculate when the account becomes dormant, because you really need to sort this out by that date.

 

[ClubMan]

So the money is gone; the delinquent official has moved; and some manager now has a problem that is not of his/her making. So you will be stonewalled

Why would staff other than the now departed delinquent official want to stonewall in this hypothetical situation?

There is at least one equivalent example of this on AAM. Bank say account closed all savings gone? | Askaboutmoney.com - the Irish consumer forum.

It's not clear from that thread what the ultimate outcome was of that case.

You say your father was asked for ID in 2011 but not when he last carried out a transaction.

But in 2011 the tellers just refused to issue any most cash without proof of ID and address. He just didnt try to take out any money since then as a result.

 

[T McGibney]

It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that a delinquent bank official has looted most if not all of your father’s account.

If banks didn't have systems to protect against such fraud, it would be rife.

How do you suggest such a "looting" could have taken place?

 

[PMU]

If banks didn't have systems to protect against such fraud, it would be rife.

How do you suggest such a "looting" could have taken place?

A quick internet search reveals some examples:

Former Bank of Ireland employee jailed for one year for theft – The Irish Times

No jail for bank official who stole €44k from AIB (irishexaminer.com)

Official stole ?10,000 from bank accounts – The Irish Times

 

[T McGibney]

A quick internet search reveals some examples:

Former Bank of Ireland employee jailed for one year for theft – The Irish Times

No jail for bank official who stole €44k from AIB (irishexaminer.com)

Official stole ?10,000 from bank accounts – The Irish Times

Yes. And what happened after each of these thefts?

Your allegation that bent staff, bent colleagues, bent managers, bent internal auditors, bent external auditors and bent regulators could together collude to facilitate and stonewall investigation into a theft of customer funds, for a period of longer than at least a decade, beggars belief.

 

[PMU]

Yes. And what happened after each of these thefts?

Your allegation that bent staff, bent colleagues, bent managers, bent internal auditors, bent external auditors and bent regulators could together collude to facilitate and stonewall investigation into a theft of customer funds, for a period of longer than at least a decade, beggars belief.

It’s not an allegation but a demonstration that even a quick internet search shows banks in the past did not have the well defined business processes we would expect to prevent theft of clients’ assets. So it’s a non-zero risk, and should be addressed.

Essentially, it’s a matter of assessing risk. Based on what we have been told the financial institution has not engaged in any meaningful way with resolving the OP’s situation. By “meaningful” I mean they have not told the OP what he/she must do to obtain access to his/her father’s funds. The risk of having your funds stolen by a delinquent official is non-zero, particularly in the situation described by the OP concerning how his father’s a/c was managed by the bank. So it's reasonable for the OP to consider this (i.e. theft by a delinquent bank official) in future dialogue with the bank.