Money Frozen

[CrossBones]

I have been living in Thailand and am in the process of relocating back to the UK.

I sold a very large sum of crypto on an international exchange and put it into my UK bank.

This is not taxable in Thailand as its never been in Thailand.

I transferred the money to a business broker in the UK and its all been frozen.

I need to find a lawyer apparently the funds could be hold for 18 months or even indefinitely i need to explain the source of the funds, its nothing dodgy just crypto ive held for many years.  Its basically all my life savings. I was meant to buy a business with it and it all got frozen. Can anyone recommend a UK lawyer here in Thailand to help me.

[JBChiangRai]

14 minutes ago, CrossBones said:

I have been living in Thailand and am in the process of relocating back to the UK.

I sold a very large sum of crypto on an international exchange and put it into my UK bank.

This is not taxable in Thailand as its never been in Thailand.

I transferred the money to a business broker in the UK and its all been frozen.

I need to find a lawyer apparently the funds could be hold for 18 months or even indefinitely i need to explain the source of the funds, its nothing dodgy just crypto ive held for many years.  Its basically all my life savings. I was meant to buy a business with it and it all got frozen. Can anyone recommend a UK lawyer here in Thailand to help me.

 

What is a business broker? Who froze your funds?

 

You may need to provide bank statements showing when you purchased your crypto and what you paid.  If you're a UK citizen, they will probably want to tax your gains too.

[Briggsy]

You do not need a lawyer.

 

UK Banks are obliged to prevent withdrawals if they believe there may be suspicious activity. You need to explain the source of the funds and demonstrate you are not in breach of any money laundering legislation.

 

The bank will be expecting your call. This is very normal.

[hotandsticky]

There is more to this story than the content of the OP.

[PJ71]

20 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

There is more to this story than the content of the OP.

Total speculation, how on earth do you know this?

[hotandsticky]

29 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

Total speculation, how on earth do you know this?

 

 

So you think the OP has the full details?

 

Come on...

[DaRoadrunner]

What does this thread have to do with Thailand?

 

But since you ask:- Banks don't like Crypto as it competes with their business.

[JBChiangRai]

The OP has been exceptionally foolish.  AMLO kicks in at GBP 10,000 or unusual activity.

 

He should have discussed with a bank branch manager first and got approval to do it.

 

Now the bank will want to see where and when he bought it. 
 

HMRC will also want their cut, I think it’s CGT but I’m not sure.

[jippytum]

You deposit has triggered a money laundering alert. 

In the first instance you need to contact the bank and  ask why the money was frozen and what do they require to release your funds. 

You certainly don't need a Thai lawyer confusing the issue. 

[PJ71]

40 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

So you think the OP has the full details?

 

Come on...

I have no idea, how could i possibly know?

[hotandsticky]

10 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

I have no idea, how could i possibly know?

 

 

Exactly

[PJ71]

6 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Exactly

exactly

[Puccini]

11 hours ago, DaRoadrunner said:

What does this thread have to do with Thailand?…

 

 

The OP is in Thailand Thailand and he is looking for a UK lawyer in Thailand.

[Yellowtail]

Why not just go back to the UK and get it hammered out? 

[Puccini]

On 2/14/2025 at 6:26 AM, CrossBones said:

…I transferred the money to a business broker in the UK and its all been frozen…

 

Do I understand correctly that the money is currently in the account of the "business broker" you mentioned?

[ukrules]

On 2/14/2025 at 12:26 PM, CrossBones said:

I transferred the money to a business broker in the UK and its all been frozen.

 

Sounds like a scam - who is this 'business broker' and has it been 'red flagged' by their bank or the 'broker' themselves?

[RSD1]

Seems he transferred his bitcoin to a scammer, posing as a business broker. The money isn't frozen, that's just part of the scam, the money is gone. 

[impulse]

On 2/14/2025 at 12:45 PM, Briggsy said:

You do not need a lawyer.

 

UK Banks are obliged to prevent withdrawals if they believe there may be suspicious activity. You need to explain the source of the funds and demonstrate you are not in breach of any money laundering legislation.

 

The bank will be expecting your call. This is very normal.

 

It may be routine, but I'd still want some advice on what to say (and not to say) and what documentation I'd need to unfreeze the money.  Before I call the bank and put my foot in it. 

 

I've got a suspicion that they'll be requiring documents that a normal casual crypto speculator didn't even know he'd need years ago.

 

[Briggsy]

52 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

It may be routine, but I'd still want some advice on what to say (and not to say) and what documentation I'd need to unfreeze the money.  Before I call the bank and put my foot in it. 

 

I've got a suspicion that they'll be requiring documents that a normal casual crypto speculator didn't even know he'd need years ago.

 

Put yourself in their shoes. The financial institution must comply with the UK's strict money laundering legislation and how this framework is laid out in the firm's (not sure if it is a bank) internal compliance regulations.

 

i) They need you to affirm that it is your money and you are not handling funds for a third party.

ii) They need you to confirm the source of the money. This is order to confirm the money is not "the proceeds of crime".

 

Remember this is not a court. There is no judge or jury. You, at this point, need to make affirmations and provide information. You do not need necessarily to provide documentation and irrefutable proof. Then the bank will refer it up to a senior compliance officer to see if the funds can be released. This will take time, possibly weeks.

 

Remember this is not personal. The worker in the bank you speak to has one job, to collect the information he/she has been told to collect. The compliance officer making the decision has to stick to the bank's regulatory framework. The bank's directors and senior managers want to ensure the bank is not subject to investigation, censure, fines and reputational damage.

 

Ensure the information you provide is consistent, credible and truthful. They want you to tell them whose money it is and where it came from.

 

[Yellowtail]

Wind-up

[JBChiangRai]

17 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Wind-up

 

I very much doubt it is a wind up, this is exactly what I would expect if I sold over GBP 10,000 crypto on (say) CEX.IO and transferred the funds to my UK bank account without pre-warning the bank and getting their nod in advance.

 

In my case I would point them to the transactions I made 18 years ago transferring significant funds from their bank to Thailand and suggest that it's not unreasonable for me to have bought crypto and want to bring it back.

 

I'm not sure how they would react to bypassing Thailand's exchange controls, hopefully that wouldn't interest them.

[Yellowtail]

1 minute ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

I very much doubt it is a wind up, this is exactly what I would expect if I sold over GBP 10,000 crypto on (say) CEX.IO and transferred the funds to my UK bank account without pre-warning the bank and getting their nod in advance.

 

In my case I would point them to the transactions I made 18 years ago transferring significant funds from their bank to Thailand and suggest that it's not unreasonable for me to have bought crypto and want to bring it back.

 

I'm not sure how they would react to bypassing Thailand's exchange controls, hopefully that wouldn't interest them.

Two days and no response from the OP? 

 

The OP said a "very large sum" which sound to me like factors of ten greater than GDP10K

 

Why would anyone make any kind of move like that without at least some investigation?

 

And why would he be looking for a UK attorney in Thailand? 

 

It makes little sense and no follow-up from the OP. 

 

Wind-up

[hotandsticky]

23 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Two days and no response from the OP? 

 

The OP said a "very large sum" which sound to me like factors of ten greater than GDP10K

 

Why would anyone make any kind of move like that without at least some investigation?

 

And why would he be looking for a UK attorney in Thailand? 

 

It makes little sense and no follow-up from the OP. 

 

Wind-up

 

 

A "very large sum" to me is GBP 500k +

 

 

Wind up?...............................Yes.

[Yellowtail]

10 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

A "very large sum" to me is GBP 500k +

 

 

Wing up?...............................Yes.

To me, a very large sum is more than I will ever have, and I am doing okay. 

[hotandsticky]

4 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

To me, a very large sum is more than I will ever have, and I am doing okay. 

 

 

Ah...........................but then you are not a show off!  😉

[Yellowtail]

14 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Ah...........................but then you are not a show off!  😉

I'm not into spending "...money I don't have, to buy stuff I don't want, to impress people I don't like."

[impulse]

4 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Put yourself in their shoes. The financial institution must comply with the UK's strict money laundering legislation and how this framework is laid out in the firm's (not sure if it is a bank) internal compliance regulations.

 

i) They need you to affirm that it is your money and you are not handling funds for a third party.

ii) They need you to confirm the source of the money. This is order to confirm the money is not "the proceeds of crime".

 

Remember this is not a court. There is no judge or jury. You, at this point, need to make affirmations and provide information. You do not need necessarily to provide documentation and irrefutable proof. Then the bank will refer it up to a senior compliance officer to see if the funds can be released. This will take time, possibly weeks.

 

Remember this is not personal. The worker in the bank you speak to has one job, to collect the information he/she has been told to collect. The compliance officer making the decision has to stick to the bank's regulatory framework. The bank's directors and senior managers want to ensure the bank is not subject to investigation, censure, fines and reputational damage.

 

Ensure the information you provide is consistent, credible and truthful. They want you to tell them whose money it is and where it came from.

 

 

I don't disagree with any of that.  I'm coming from the standpoint that a qualifying interview with a prospective UK trained attorney here in LOS won't cost much (if anything) and he/she may be able to point out where the OP may already be afoul of money reporting requirements, and what to do next to prevent digging himself any deeper.

 

Or the OP may be in full compliance already and the lawyer can put his mind at ease.

 

To answer the other posters' question "Why look for a UK attorney in Thailand?", it's because they're generally tuned into the issues that expats face.  (And you can meet face to face with no digital communications the gub'ment can listen in to, if you're paranoid cautious).  He may not need an attorney.  A tax prep guy may serve the purpose.  I met with both a US tax prep guy and a US attorney in Thailand and neither one charged me for the initial consult.  I suspect it would be the same with a UK guy.

 

[hankypankee]

12 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

It makes little sense and no follow-up from the OP. 

 

Wind-up

 

Perhaps he has now realized that he lost his life savings to some online fraudsters and he is not handling with the situation very well. 

 

Probably the last thing he is thinking about now is replying to a bunch of posts on a thread he started on anonymous forum when he now has much bigger problems to worry about.

[Tropicalevo]

To the OP.

 

It is not clear if your money is with the 'broker' or in your bank.

 

If it is frozen in your bank account, the solution is simple if it is clean money.

You just have to prove to the bank where the money came from.

This happened to me many years ago with my account in Jersey.

Showed the documents and the money was released.

It took about six months.

It was a tad embarrassing as I was living overseas and had to borrow money until the bank cleared it.

 

If the money is with the 'broker' then your troubles may be larger. Is he legit?

[Puccini]

19 hours ago, impulse said:

It may be routine, but I'd still want some advice on what to say (and not to say) and what documentation I'd need to unfreeze the money.  Before I call the bank and put my foot in it

 

What bank has frozen your money and is asking you for information and documentation, your bank or the bank of your business broker, or is the business broker telling you this?

 

You should really be more precise if you expect to get helpful advice here.