Consumer complaint received 2023-11-27
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: AZ
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
I initiated a domestic wire transfer from my credit union, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  in the amount of {$82000.00}, sent to Citibank NA, XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX In a follow up call to confirm receipt of said funds on XXXX XXXX I was informed the account number provided was a DEACTIVATED account, and immediately reached out to my supplier and they informed me that I had inadvertently been given the wrong wiring instructions and to contact my credit union and have the wire transfer recalled/canceled and have the funds returned to my bank. I then contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX and they initiated a written request to Citibank on XX/XX/XXXX to recall/cancel the wire and return the funds to my account. XXXX week later I followed up with XXXX XXXX XXXX, and they said they hadn't received any response from Citibank regarding the request, I requested they initiate another request which they did, and they additionally phoned Citibank 's XXXX XXXX, and were stonewalled, refusing to acknowledge receipt of the written requests, and would not discuss anything regarding the transaction, and the funds were on hold. After several weeks of no action, on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX received an email with an attached copy of the transaction releasing the funds to another account number with no authorization from myself or my credit union, the funds had been accepted and immediately been wired outbound, but in their transaction record there was no beneficiary referred to in the transaction, showing NO REF. To date, my supplier has not received the funds, and Citibank refuses to discuss anything to do with the transaction, stating they were the beneficiary of the wire, and they operated within their rights, but will not provide any information regarding the outbound wire due to privacy laws, and after further investigation stated the case was closed and they would have no further communication with me or my credit union regarding the case. I have demanded the funds should have been returned to me via the multiple written requests submitted by my credit union to recall/cancel the initial transaction due to mistaken wiring instructions and the funds should have rightfully been returned to my credit union for me to send the funds to a proper account. Citibank was negligent in ignoring the recall/cancellation requests for several weeks, much less arbitrarily moving the funds to another account without any authorization from my bank or myself. I contend they should have immediately returned the funds to my bank when they arrived referencing the account was deactivated or closed and unable to deposit as dictated by the wiring instructions, yet they did not, and then after my bank sent multiple requests recalling/canceling the wire, yet ignored those requests as well, then after two weeks of holding the funds with no explanation to anyone diverted or released the funds to another account, and now my funds are a mystery that Citibank chooses not to address with either me or my bank and says the case is closed and will have no further communication regarding this transaction. Citibank needs to return the funds to me as they were instructed to do several times long before they elected to release the funds to a mystery account.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation