Little did I know when I walked into Union Bank of California to open a checking account to pay my mundane monthly bills that I would end up in a terrible situation four months later. Accusing me of Federal crimes, they closed my account and reported me to Chex Systems, making it virtually impossible to open or maintain an existing bank account anywhere for the next 5 years.I used to bank with Wells Fargo. After a potentially disastrous check depositing debacle, Wells Fargo advised me that the best way to deposit money is by wire transfer or cash, and to avoid depositing large checks. Because this did not seem feasible, I closed my Wells Fargo account and I decided to bank with Union Bank of California.
To open the new account, I withdrew $20,000 cash from my business account. I took cash because I was tired of the hassles and knew that there would be no problems or fees when depositing cash. I went into Union Bank of California and opened a checking account on July 18. The teller pulled out a Suspicious Activity Report and asked me the information and filled in the first 2 sections. A SAR is used to report money laundering, terrorism, and fraud to the Feds. I didn’t think much of it, since banks have to file reports on cash transactions over $10,000.
I used the account for paying my mortgage and credit card bills, and depositing the rent check from my tenant. Here is a log of all activity up to September 19:
7/18 initial opening deposit (cash)
+ $20,000
7/23 online bill payment to homeowner’s assoc.
- $218.4
7/28 online mortgage payment
- $1000
7/29 deposited check from my husband
+ $5000
8/20 deposited rent check from tenant
+ $1475
8/25 online bill payment to homeowner’s assoc.
- $218.4
8/28 online mortgage payment
- $1000
9/15 check
- $10
9/17 deposited rent check from tenant
+ $1475
Apparently the above activity was just too shady for their liking, because on September 19, I received this letter accusing me of the Federal crime of structuring cash transactions to evade reporting requirements. A bank has to report cash transactions involving $10,000 or more to the feds, and breaking cash transactions into smaller amounts under $10,000 to avoid that reporting is a crime. I know this because they also sent me some pamphlets on money laundering.
The only problem is that I had not made any cash transactions since the opening deposit.
I called them up and asked them what the problem was and the lady said it was because it was very unusual for a person to have such a high balance in their checking account. I asked her about the letter and she said don’t worry, it’s a form letter. I asked her what I should do differently, and she said to do nothing, don’t worry everything’s fine. I asked her if they were going to close my account and she said no.
So I forgot about it and continued with the same types of transactions as before, until I needed some cash. I don’t know why I thought this would be OK, but I was bold enough to withdraw $80 from the ATM.
10/14/2008 UBOC. NORTH PARK #1 ATM Withdrawals -$80.00
That did it. On December 1, I got this letter dated October 24 saying that they were closing my account because they could not keep monitoring and reporting all of these evasive cash structuring transactions that I continue to make despite their warnings.
I went into the branch to turn in my ATM card and checks. I asked the account manager why they had closed my account and he wouldn’t discuss it. He seemed really nervous, like maybe he thought I was some sort of terrorist or money launderer or something.
