Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s chief investigator. He battles the reader’s corner, reveals the truth that lies behind closed doors, and wins victories for those left out of pocket. Below you can read how to contact him.
PR writes: I am writing on behalf of my daughter, who is distraught after receiving a text message from NatWest, ending her banking relationship with it and having her account suspended.
I was assured that this would not affect my account with the bank, but as I manage a First Saver account for her, it has also been suspended.
Tony Hetherington replies: You contacted me after three weeks of waiting, hoping for an explanation from NatWest. You told me that you had spoken to several members of staff but were sent from pillar to post. Since then, it’s taken much longer than I imagined to find out why the bank decided to dump your daughter.
NatWest itself has added to the confusion. You have received a letter from the bank stating that it is also terminating the relationship with you. The letter referred to the account you maintained for your daughter, but it further stated that the letter may not list all of your accounts.
Clap: Reader’s daughter lost access to £13,000 savings
The strong wording “termination of relationship” with you suggested that all your own accounts were also closed without explanation. The bank then contradicted its own letter to you, which stated that you could have an account in your own name, but not a joint account with your daughter. So it didn’t really end his relationship with you.
Or was it? You tried to get straight answers from no less than 11 officials at the bank, without success, and all the while your daughter had no access to her savings of around £13,000. However, I made some progress when I contacted officials at NatWest headquarters. It confirmed that only your joint savings account with your daughter was affected, and not your other accounts. And they promised to return the £13,000 if your daughter completed a release form.
Intriguingly, the bank told me that legal requirements may include that “NatWest, while acting in a client’s best interest, is obligated to delay or refuse to act on a client’s instructions.”
This would appear to mean that the bank believes your daughter was involved in money laundering or fraud, but NatWest cannot say this outright as the same legal requirement makes it a criminal offense to tip off someone who may be under investigation.
The bank has now released your daughter’s money, but kept it in a non-interest-bearing account for some time. This meant that she was denied access to her money and she earned no interest.
You have made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, but the cause of the problem is much broader than this. Legally, banks are treated in the same way as greengrocers, fishmongers or any retailer.
They can refuse to serve anyone of their choice as long as they do not discriminate on grounds such as race or religion.
But closing someone’s bank account without disclosing a reason and without appealing is much more serious than denying them a bunch of bananas or a few kippers. It’s time the law recognized this.
We’re watching you
Fraudster: Samuel Exall
The Financial Conduct Authority has recovered £27,000 from convicted con artist Samuel Exall, who spearheaded an illegal land investment scheme that The Mail on Sunday warned about more than a decade ago. The money will now be distributed to his victims, who lost £2.8 million.
Exall led Synergy Land Group Ltd, which said it had bought land from developers including Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Homes. It offered investors plots of land for around £7,000, with the story saying the value would rise to £40,000 within months. The developers had been hit by a fall in house prices and needed the money, Exall claimed.
I investigated and found that Exall’s sales pitch were all lies. When I questioned him, he told me, “Your interest is to write a story, mine is to continue running a legitimate commercial enterprise.” I don’t feel obligated to defend myself in court at The Mail on Sunday, tempting as that may be.’
To which I replied in print that Exall might see himself as a defendant in a real court.
That was in 2010. A year later, the FCA ordered Exall’s plan to stop. And in 2016, Exall appeared before Southwark Crown Court and admitted that the land he was selling was overpriced farmland without planning permission. He received a four-year prison sentence for fraud and a seven-year ban from acting as a company director.
Synergy’s land was auctioned in 2019, raising the £27,000 that the FCA will now hand over to Exall’s victims. The total number of Synergy investors is unknown. Only 33 victims filed a claim, four of whom have since died.
Therese Chambers, a director at the FCA, said: ‘Tackling financial crime and securing redress for victims is a priority for us.’
If you believe you have been the victim of financial misconduct, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Due to the large number of questions, no personal answers can be given. Only send copies of original documents, which unfortunately cannot be returned.
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