From February 1, Ukrainian banks have introduced restrictions on card transfers to the card - no more than 150 thousand hryvnias a month. It is part of the measures to combat illegal financial transactions, as well as an attempt to increase control over the movement of individuals.
As banks block the accounts of Ukrainians
“The latest restrictions were imposed through a casino. Ukrainians suffer because our casino used drops, and the National Bank did not find the best decision than limit all the legends, ”says a high -ranking government representative. Drop is Ukrainians who sell their bank cards to withdraw funds. In some casinos, half of all players attributed to the players do not participate in the game and return to the accounts of individuals. And then these natural persons (and in fact "drops") derive funds.
“You can collect UAH 25-30 billion taxes, and in 2024 raised UAH 17.7 billion. That is, somewhere 71 operator underpays up to UAH 12.2 billion. But no one knows the exact figure, ”the government says. At the same time, it is not easy to block the Drop accounts. The organizers of the scheme have a whole staff of lawyers.
According to suspicious receipts from casino, banks block bills first. Oboz.ua analyzed dozens of court cases (it is a lawsuit of Ukrainians against banks). The lion's share of lawsuits against banks - from those whom the bank considers "drops". A striking example is a civil case 757/4118/24-c, which was considered a few months ago by the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv. The lawyer demanded that the Raiffeisen Bank unblock the customer's account on which the salary came. "Illegal transactions were not carried out, but the bank unreasonably blocked the account," the plaintiff's representative said.
"In addition to the salary, the account came from Slotscity.ua, cosmolot.ua, Sense 02 Card 535 442,62 thousand UAH," - said the case file. In addition, he also received income from these gambling companies in the amount of 71.3 thousand and UAH 48.5 thousand, respectively. In the sum from the casino the plaintiff received 663.9 thousand UAH for four months. The man explained such transactions by the fact that he replenished the accounts in the casino and decided, without betting, withdraw funds to the account with Raiffeisen Bank. Such actions fully correspond to the behavior of "drops".
“The plaintiff at the expense of unknown sources was able to replenish the deposit in these casino for a certain period of 2023 for a total amount of UAH 663 thousand (the amount according to the certificates provided) and then derives the data to his bank account. Compared, the annual income of the plaintiff for the entire 2022 year is UAH 634 thousand (according to the OK-5 certificate provided). With regard to transactions, the plaintiff could not disclose the sources at which he conducted rates in online casino, ”the court's decision reads. It should be noted that this is a civil case, the plaintiff no one has accused of laundering. However, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv decided to reject the claim and agreed that the Bank had legally closed the account.
The client of the bank also demanded to pay him moral compensation of 733 thousand UAH. “The perspective that investigative actions may be conducted on the plaintiff and may be accused of laundering or terrorism. In view of the above, the plaintiff asks the requirements to satisfy and recover from JSC CB "PrivatBank" 733 000 UAH of moral harm ", - the claim reads.
The Bank found that from January 1, 2023 to February 21, 2024, large sums came to the client's account: from 78 thousand to UAH 317.2 thousand. At the same time, the income he pointed in the questionnaire was 35 thousand UAH.
"Considering the above provisions of the legislation, as well as the conditions of JSC CB" PrivatBank ", during the analysis of the plaintiff's activity on the basis of available documents and information, the Bank set an unacceptably high risk, in connection with which he made a decision to refuse to maintain business relations with the plaintiff," the case said. Of course, the court denied the bank to the bank.
It is necessary to observe the rules of financial hygiene, then there will be no problems with banks. For example, if you get money, you should apply for a loan agreement. It is also important to receive "white income". If the bank has questions that you can answer, there will be no problems with financial monitoring.
All Ukrainian banks block accounts because of violations of financial monitoring rules. And even if the client did not know what violates, the bank will automatically check the transaction and define as "risky". And if there are many risky operations, they can terminate the cooperation agreement.
Sometimes it is enough to exchange cryptocurrency and get funds from the account previously used by fraudsters. Any “atypical” operation can also block: large amount with cash. All politically significant persons are of particular attention. Therefore, if you, for example, a MP, the bank will be much more likely to ask you to explain who has transferred you.
Particular attention should be paid to the following cases:
- withdrawing an unusually large amount of cash in the region where you are not usually;
- Large online purchases, especially at night;
- obtaining a large amount on the card and withdrawal in cash;
- cryptocurrency or other virtual assets for more than 30 thousand UAH;
- transactions to large sums.
Financial monitoring in Ukraine will only intensify. It is the banks who should control that the client uses "white" money, and the financial institution does not help to wash the earned in the shadows.
