Vulnerable Person who opened an account using a fake name now struggling to withdraw cash using his real name

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Surely the subject should be: Bank refuses to return funds belonging to vulnerable person who opened an account using a fake name

I've skimmed the email trail and I can't see where the OP states that their father is blameless. Asking why it was not addressed sooner is not very helpful. Anyone who has close relatives with severe mental illness will sympathise with the OP. Relatives in such situations often become de facto carers on a day to day basis and this can consume a lot of time and mental energy, leaving little space to deal with more strategic issues, such as this account.
 
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A few thoughts occur to me.

Did OP's father have mental competence at the time he opened the account ?
In other words, did he have contractual capacity, at the time of opening the account, to enter in to a contract ?
If not, all that followed the opening of the account might be null and void.
The contract thus formed might be regarded as void ab initio i.e. as if it never existed.

There is an issue of credibility. There is a principle from the law of equity that says that he who seeks equity must do so with clean hands. I do not question the integrity of the OP's father, especially where mental health issues arise. The conceptual difficulty is that the conduct of the account holder leaves him wide open objectively to adverse inferences being drawn and all of the consequences that may flow.

BTW the presence of mental health issues at the relevant time does not automatically mean that his conduct is excused.
What has to be established, by evidence, is that the depth and nature of the mental state caused impairment of mental capacity at that time.

I am sympathetic to EBS. They probably feel, with justification, that whilst there may have been procedural weaknesses they still acted in good faith and might be compromised whatever decision they make. I am amazed at the notion that there is nothing that they can do. If OP's father sought relief in the courts and orders were made against them EBS would have a perfect solution as would the account holder .

There have been suggestions that OP's father should instruct a solicitor. I endorse that very strongly because many of these matters have the capacity to become an utter morass if they are not resolved definitively.

The Financial Services & Pensions Ombudsman Scheme might be one way to go to resolve this. If you submit the issue to them for adjudication I understand that their rulings are legally binding on the parties. Alternatively, the court route might be considered. Neither option is perfect as each has potential disadvantages. The FSOP option does not expose you to costs unless the other side appeals and thus puts you straight in to the High Court.

FSOP link https://www.fspo.ie/

I hope that OP can get this sorted sooner than later and that there will be one major worry lifted from his father.
 
I have already recommended the Ombudsman here

Vulnerable Person who opened an account using a fake name now struggling to withdraw cash using his real name

I think it is both inappropriate and incorrect to describe what the OP's father did as ‘fraud’ or that he acted ‘fraudulently’. He opened the account with a different name than the one on his birth cert. But based on what we are told he did not act with deception to obtain an unlawful gain, or...
www.askaboutmoney.com


But mainly because it will get someone in the EBS to try to resolve the matter.

It is absolutely not EBS's fault. This is a very odd situation. Probably unprecedented. So there is no page in the Handbook for it.



Brendan
 
This sounds like a situation that no-one in EBS wants to deal with as it is not in the handbook. It needs everyone, including EBS, to sit down like adults and discuss things and sort out a solution together. Getting that to happen may be tricky, but its what ultimately needs to happen.
 

In what way has the EBS not been behaving like an adult?
 
How much money is in the account?

Was the money lodged in cash? When?
 
I'm with @Kimmagegirl . Ideally, the father should try and make a withdrawal in the first instance. Is there any way he could be put into a wheelchair, brought to his EBS branch, up to the counter, and say, "Good morning, I'd like to make a withdrawal by cheque please"?
 
Possibly, but it's a starting point. A refusal by a financial institution allow a depositor to withdraw their deposit is a serious matter, which can then be put into the hands of a solicitor, or the FSPO.
 
TLO said:
A refusal by a financial institution allow a depositor to withdraw their deposit is a serious matter, which can then be put into the hands of a solicitor, or the FSPO.
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But aren't they just back at square one being unable to prove they are the account holder? 12 years since they last went in, how many of the original staff are still there and how many of those might remember him from all their customers?
 
Not necessarily. Father presents the book. The teller verifies the signature. If ID is asked for, father says, "I've never been asked for ID before, and I don't have any. But I do have some old statements with me, would these do?" It may or may not work. But it is a starting point.
 
TLO said:
Possibly, but it's a starting point. A refusal by a financial institution allow a depositor to withdraw their deposit is a serious matter, which can then be put into the hands of a solicitor, or the FSPO.
Click to expand...
same applies if the funds are withdrawn by someone who is not the account holder or who cannot provide proof that they are the account holderr. That's the purpose of AML.

EBS can't win here at the minute in fairness to them
 

As if there won't be a big red warning sign on the computer records in light of the matter having been referred already to the EBS Legal/Vulnerable Team as confirmed by the OP in their first post.
 
Shirazman said:
In what way has the EBS not been behaving like an adult?
Click to expand...

They are just doing a "computer says no" here. There are situations which don't fit their rulebook and they don't seem willing to even discuss it, let alone investigate and reach a solution.

This is the kind of situation that may get resolved by heading to the newspapers. Then EBS may well suddenly decide that this is a special circumstance that needs to be sat down and discussed logically, and empathatically.
 
You really think someone so vulnerable as the person here can expose themselves to publicity so easily?
 
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