Commonwealth Bank is in danger of taking out the accounts of the old customer above little known rule

An Australian businessman has described one of the big four banks of Australia as ‘Orwellian’ after it threatened to freeze his bills unless he explained the source of his money.

Louis Christopher, who runs investment research company SQM, said Commonwealth Bank threatened to cancel and close his bank accounts because he would not explain to them where his money came from.

The bank recently sent a warning to Mr. Christopher who told Daily Mail Australia about the unexpected threat.

“This e -mail came through and the first thought was that this is spam,” said Mr. Christopher.

“I called Commonwealth Bank and verified that it was real and if I didn’t satisfy, they would freeze my bills.

“They were going to suspend all my accounts this week if I did not tell them the answers to the above questions and said that Austrac gave them the authority to do that.”

The bank wanted to know how he built his wealth, why he made cash recordings, if he kept cash at home and why, and why he carries out certain transactions for third parties.

Louis Christopher says that the Commonwealth Bank threatened to freeze his bank accounts because he would not explain where his money came from

He described the e -mail as ‘Orwellian’

“I thought this was a gross burglary on my privacy. My wealth is my case and I consider it a security threat to my family and myself to share it with everyone, “said Mr. Christopher.

‘They asked me to agree to share this information with third parties, including government services and other commercial credit providers. This is obscene, it is not acceptable. ‘

Mr. Christopher, who has been a CBA customer since 1978, thinks that the legal advice within the banks tried to interpret the requirements of Austrac.

Austrac, or the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, is the financial intelligence and research agency of the federal government. It supervises anti-money laundering practices and the fight against terrorism.

‘I think it was sent by the government. Orwellian things, driven by Austrac, “he said.

The federal government has allowed banks to interrogate its customers about what they do with their money and where amounts have been deposited.

‘It is a major violation of our privacy and freedoms. I really hope they don’t freeze my accounts. I have been one of their long -term customers and they can see my history, “said Mr. Christopher.

The Commonwealth Bank was fired to ask very personal questions to one of its customers

Christoper said that the actions of banks and government agencies had gone too far and said it was all about collecting the data from Aussies.

“Place a gun on everyone’s heads and say:” We will freeze your accounts unless you answer very personal questions “should not happen unless there is a judicial order,” he said.

‘Banking is an essential service. If they freeze my accounts, I can’t buy food or pay my mortgage. ‘

A number of people told Mr. Christopher on social media that they had experienced the same problems, and it was not just SMEs who came under fire.

Nick Marshall said: ‘Had a similar experience before I left Australia, threatening accounts will be closed if they do not answer their personal financial questions.

“I felt equally disgusting, when a few weeks ago they threatened the same if I did not announce the tax information of my new country.”

Another said: ‘This happened to me recently with ING. They close me and reduce all access to my own money without warning.

‘I had to jump through hoops with bubbles only to gain access to my accounts. My accounts are chump change. I don’t have big sums of money. They come for all of us. ‘

A spokesperson for Commonwealth Bank sent Daily Mail Australia a statement that justified their actions.

“We are obliged to manage the accounts of our customers in accordance with the anti-money laundering practices and Terrorism Fighting Act 2006, which explains that all banks active in Australia must be collected, verify and maintain information about customer identification,” said the statement.

‘In the same way as we must comply with the regulations When a customer first opens an account, we must also comply with current legislation with regard to the maintenance of their identification information.

“Ensuring that we have the most up -to -date and correct details of a customer also helps us to keep them safe and to protect them against fraud.”

Austrac was contacted for comment.