Consumer complaint received 2017-05-12
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (NY)

This concerns funds that were withdrawn from my money market account on  XXXX   XXXX  for {$1800.00}. This amount corresponds to a third-party check I had deposited for my close friend on Wed,  XXXX   XXXX  at the  XXXX   XXXX  branch. After he called the issuing bank to verify the funds, I offered to deposit it for him as he needed to pay bills and his bank would take too long to clear. Ive maybe done this a handful of times in the  20+  years Ive had this account.     I gave him what was available at the time of the deposit  ( {$300.00} ) and we agreed we would look again on Friday. On th at evening, I signed onto my account on my computer and was unable to see any of my accounts. I then tried  my iPhone, which also w as a dead end. Figuring there was a system outage, I called tech support hoping to get an answer as to when I would be able to sign in again for access to account information. From that conversation, I was transferred to the  Fraud  department, where I was informed the check was fraudulent. I was obviously taken aback as my friend had called to verify the check before giving it to me. I was told my accounts would be frozen for 5 days in order for the check to cycle through, which I was told meant clearing the bank system ; I was told to expect that process would last until Monday. My account would be restored after that.     On Monday afternoon,  XXXX   XXXX , I rang the fraud department again and was told everything had cleared through and they would unlock my accounts. Later on, I signed on to check my accounts. At this point, the balance, including the remainder of the {$1800.00} was still there. I was confused but thought if the check truly was fraudulent, why would they leave the balance in there entirely available? It must have meant the checks funds had cleared the payee bank after all. This was good news to my friend who was frantic for the paycheck that had take n 1.5 mo nths to get, holding up bills he needed to pay. I went to the bank to withdraw the rest of money for him to a sigh of heavy relief for both of us. Additionally, the person from whom he had been calling all weekend to get information why his check would be fraudulent texted him to say he saw the check had cleared and that the matter was closed.     The next evening, I went to look at my account because what I had in there was earmarked to be withdrawn. I was shocked to see at the end of Monday, the bank had debited the entire {$1800.00}. That put me out by that amount for a withdrawal I needed to make.     I feel the bank has now put me in a very precarious situation. How does it unlock an account with what was claimed a fraudulent transaction and the leave the entire amount there? In doing so,  Citibank cre ated confusion and clouded the entire episode it put me through. If the check was fraudulent, why had freezing my account to cycle the check through not result in its removal when the account was released back to me? Why then, put me through that ordeal? It makes absolutely NO sense. From the customers standpoint, one would logically conclude the problem was cleared up. Furthermore, the person I spoke with i n Fraud that Mond ay who released my account said nothing to the effect of You will see that check amount still in there, Please do not use it as it will be withdrawn when the account settles at the close of the day. No warning. No advisement. No mention. Nothing.     At that point, my friend had already used the funds to pay his bills and has been unable to get remuneration from the checks payee. He can not reach them. I am out {$1800.00}, which I feel is due  to Citibanks a ction - or in this case, non-action. The bank turned my account to me with funds that were totally cleared and available, thus making its status extremely deceptive. On top of that, I had no money that past weekend to do anything since my accounts were frozen. I would expect in all the time I was inconvenienced, everything would have been cleared up and handed back to me corrected. Later in  XXXX , I got the attached debit advice after it had all happened, which is ridiculous that it came so untimely.     I wrote t o Citibank  on  XXXX   XXXX , sending copies of the letters via registered mail to my branch, their Fraud depart ment in MD ( the office to where I was directed ), and to the CEO of the bank. I 've not heard from anyone in over a month. It is bec ause of this reticence, I feel I must take additional action and get help for other sources. The a mount may see m insignificant to them, but for me, it is a large chunk of money I 'm out. I hope you can help me with this issue.