Employer requires opening personal accounts for business use.

[cflowers0115]

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@hahayepyep wrote:
cflowers, if this practice were taking place at your bank, how would one approach bringing it to the attention of the appropriate people?

The owner arranged for a banker to come collect all our info and sign the paper work. That individual knows that the owner added himself as a joint holder. Why would that bank allow this to happen? I'm wondering if the banker was told one story, and we were told another.

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There are basically three ways this could occur.. 

#1. The business owner did not tell the banker the purpose of these accounts was to run business transactions through them

#2. The banker is partaking in what we refer to as "willful blindness" and simply turning a blind eye to get the extra accounts opened

#3. The banker is ignorant to AML regulations, among other regs that are in place to safeguard against this. Basically, by taking business funds and running them through personal accounts.. malicious or not, you are partaking in a form of money laundering. 

Personally.. my way around this would be to let my employer know that I spoke with my CPA and he recommended I not open a personal account to run business transactions through.. that this would create an accounting mess and could potentially make you liable for business transactions on your personal returns. 

You COULD go the bank route.. but to be safe.. I'd go to another branch and talk w/ their branch manager about what is occuring and your concerns with it. Just on the off chance that #2 or #3 is occuring. From the BANK'S perspective they can't determine customer intentions on a newly opened account. So no red flags would immediately go up. The problem would be flagged when they saw business transactions running through the account. Which they may, or may not, catch quickly. 

From an ethical perspective, I hope and pray that the reasoning behind this is reason #1. 

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask me any other questions, I've worked in this industry for years. 

[hahayepyep]

Just spoke with someone from the AG's office.  His exactly reply, "Woah, no, that doesn't sound right at all."  He said if I wished to have the matter looked into I should fax the application I was asked to fill out to their office.

Ever since I started my credit repair journey, I make 100% sure to get copies of ANYTHING I'm asked to sign (I suggest everyone get a document scanning app on their phones).  I have a copy of the application, but completely forgot to get the name of the banker.  There is a barcode on the account application, so I assume there is a way to track all that.  The banker told me I'd hear from him sometime this week about the account details (it's now Friday afternoon, and no call).  I'd really like to know exactly what all has been set up, or will be set up.

[cflowers0115]

In the interim, I would freeze the account, or simply shut it down in the interim. I wouldn't want to be part of an AML violation. There are heavy consequences for that beyond losing a bank account. 

[hahayepyep]

At this point, I don't even know if the account has been opened.  I've recieved no communication from the banker and I'm not at home to check my mail (traveling for work).

I called WF again today and they said to take the copy of the form I have to a branch and have them assess what's going on.  They thought this was a very unusual situation that should be looked into.

AND THEN in true WF fashion, they tried to get me to open CD's and open a credit card while on the phone with them about this, LOL!!!

[Blodreina]

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@hahayepyep wrote:

At this point, I don't even know if the account has been opened.  I've recieved no communication from the banker and I'm not at home to check my mail (traveling for work).

I called WF again today and they said to take the copy of the form I have to a branch and have them assess what's going on.  They thought this was a very unusual situation that should be looked into.

AND THEN in true WF fashion, they tried to get me to open CD's and open a credit card while on the phone with them about this, LOL!!!

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Lol!