Fair warning, this could mean your account was flagged for money laundering and/or fraud, and you’ll have a hell of a time getting access back. Adding a massive charge to the account and forcing it into the negative is a fairly common way for banks to go “wait woah hold up, kill access to that account’s funds right now.”
Like maybe it was flagged for money laundering, so they can’t have you spending any (potentially illegal) money via a debit card or making withdrawals while they investigate. So they just add a massive charge to the account and force it into the negative, so the systems already in place will refuse to let you use your card; you try to pay for something, and your card suddenly declines because your account is in the red.
If this is the case, you should consider any money in that account inaccessible for the foreseeable future. The bank will likely stonewall while they investigate, (after all, they can’t really divulge anything about the investigation to the person who is being investigated) which can take several weeks (or even months) to wrap up. It’s likely that the bank tellers you speak to don’t even know any details of the investigation; They’ll only see that your account had the large charge. And no amount of “how the hell am I supposed to pay my bills when my accounts are all locked” will get the bank to budge.
Source: My buddy had this happen to him. He started working at a head shop. Apparently head shops are notorious for money laundering, because his account was flagged for investigation as soon as his first paycheck deposited. It happened right at the end of the month. It took the bank four weeks to return his funds. In the meantime, his landlord had already started eviction proceedings, because he was a month behind on his rent.
Fair warning, this could mean your account was flagged for money laundering and/or fraud, and you’ll have a hell of a time getting access back. Adding a massive charge to the account and forcing it into the negative is a fairly common way for banks to go “wait woah hold up, kill access to that account’s funds right now.”
Like maybe it was flagged for money laundering, so they can’t have you spending any (potentially illegal) money via a debit card or making withdrawals while they investigate. So they just add a massive charge to the account and force it into the negative, so the systems already in place will refuse to let you use your card; you try to pay for something, and your card suddenly declines because your account is in the red.
If this is the case, you should consider any money in that account inaccessible for the foreseeable future. The bank will likely stonewall while they investigate, (after all, they can’t really divulge anything about the investigation to the person who is being investigated) which can take several weeks (or even months) to wrap up. It’s likely that the bank tellers you speak to don’t even know any details of the investigation; They’ll only see that your account had the large charge. And no amount of “how the hell am I supposed to pay my bills when my accounts are all locked” will get the bank to budge.
Source: My buddy had this happen to him. He started working at a head shop. Apparently head shops are notorious for money laundering, because his account was flagged for investigation as soon as his first paycheck deposited. It happened right at the end of the month. It took the bank four weeks to return his funds. In the meantime, his landlord had already started eviction proceedings, because he was a month behind on his rent.