Background

The following email correspondance documents an issue where the German bank for an account I opened in Russia before the war started (necessary for my international career) is repeatedly making unnecessary requests, likely to "bury me in paperwork" as a tactic to distract me from my work, some of which involves exposing and calling attention to white collar crime.

On the surface, this may seem like a fairly straightforward and routine necessity that I am making too big a deal out of, but there are hidden elements at play. There is a long record of other, graver conflicts behind this which I don't have the resources to fully, publicly detail at the moment since the global banking mafia has stolen hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars from me. This however, should provide a succinct example of an ongoing conflict which Donald Trump has already acknowledged in his speeches.

The full transcript generated by my email provider is over 2,600 lines (since it involves many agents with a maze of threads to unravel — which they may do intentionally) so I have provided this simplified version below, which does not omit any important details. The original pdf is available upon request.

Though this interaction only ended up wasting several hours of my time, if I had complied with their original requests, it would've taken much longer, which I have learned the hard way from experience dealing with their bullshit in the past. My hope is that by exposing these shenanigans it will reduce their efficacy against others, pressure authorities to address what is really going on with the global banking mafia and legitimize me both as a victim but also as a combatant against corruption and ineptitude (which tend to go hand in hand). Like the many attacks against me, the strategy here is to make them seem innocent so that I cannot get help from others who should be recognizing the opportunity here rather than just see this as a complaint.

July 4, 2024 at 9:03 AM

Dear customer! We need to update your residence details in our systems during 2 weeks, so that we could continue to serve you without blocking. This is required by the law. We kindly ask you to provide needed information by calling our hotline +7 495 287-12-44 or by sending it to compliance_support@raiffeisen.ru Details: raif.ru/ooasJFF

Лейсян, ID 1152160
Райффайзен Банк

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July 5, 2024 at 8:31 PM

Hello,

Is there some mistake? I already updated my information with you in April. Do not give me a hard time, I am one of the few Westerners still friendly to Russia.

Regards,

Jack

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July 8, 2024 at 12:33 PM

Hello!

I am sending you a tax residency form that you need to fill out.

Tax resident (taxpayer) is any person who, according to the legislation of the state, is obliged not to pay taxation based on place of residence, permanent place of residence or any other criterion established in each specific state.

Please note that you need to indicate not only the country where you pay taxes, but also all countries of your tax residence - that is, those where you are required to pay taxes. It doesn't matter whether you actually pay those taxes in America or whether you consistently make a profit there.

С уважением,
Анна, ID 1157213
Райффайзен Банк

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July 8, 2024 at 1:01 PM

Hello,

I already did this in April and got a confirmation that the matter is completed as seen in the attached screenshot.

Regards,

Jack

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July 9, 2024 at 6:18 PM

Dear Mr. Vaughn,

Yes, that’s right you did this in April but now we also need to receive the information about Lithuania because of your current address.

Best regards,

Yulia, ID 1152127
AO Raiffeisenbank

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July 9, 2024 at 6:33 PM

Hello,

My address has not changed and this Lithuania matter was already addressed in the aforementioned email thread, for which I sent the screenshot from RBRU Compliance acknowledging the matter is already resolved since I have never worked in Lithuania but only lived off savings and non-Lithuanian money sources. This must be in your email history already.

Regards,

Jack

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July 10, 2024 at 2:09 PM

Dear Mr. Vaughn

Please clarify, are you currently living in Lithuania?

German ID 2333

Compliance issues support sector
AO Raiffeisenbank
T. +7 (495) 721-9900

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July 11, 2024 at 5:00 PM
 
Yes

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July 12, 2024 at 10:13 AM

Good afternoon!

Your explanations have been forwarded to the initiator of the request.
As soon as we receive feedback, we will get back to you with an answer.
Have a good day!

Sincerely,
Olga ID 1153001
JSC Raiffeisenbank

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July 12, 2024 at 3:29 PM

Good day!

On the form, you indicated tax residence only in the United States, but you also have a foreign address in Lithuania, so we require information about tax residence in the country of address, or a document from the tax authority of the country Lithuania confirming that the client does not have tax residence in this country .

Любовь ID: 1152231
Райффайзен Банк

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July 12, 2024 at 4:28 PM
 
Hello,

I already sent a link with the required proofs that I am not tax liable according to the laws of Lithuania in the original thread before the matter was closed. Your document asked for my tax residences, so I gave them. It did not ask where I currently reside (which is not the same thing). Furthermore, I am already compliant with the law. Where exactly in our agreement does it say that clients are required to provide official documentation from the local tax authority explaining the law?

Regards,


Jack Vaughn

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July 15, 2024 at 12:25 PM

Hello!

According to clause 2.10.3. General conditions for servicing accounts, deposits and consumer loans of citizens of JSC Raiffeisenbank:
The Client undertakes to provide the Bank upon first request (but in any case no later than 3 (Three) business days from the date the Bank sends the corresponding request to the Client in any way provided for in clause 2.15 of the General Conditions) documents or information (written explanations) necessary for the Bank to fulfill the requirements legislation of the Russian Federation on combating the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism, including information on the presence/absence of changes to the data obtained as a result of the Client’s identification.

The Client undertakes to provide the Bank upon request (but in any case no later than 15 (fifteen) calendar days), documents or information necessary to comply with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation on the specifics of financial transactions with foreign citizens and legal entities, and legislation on the implementation of international automatic exchange of financial information. Failure to provide the above information/documents by the Client may serve as the basis for the consequences provided for by the General Conditions or the legislation of the Russian Federation with the competent authorities of foreign states (territories).


С уважением, Анна
ID 7213
АО «Райффайзенбанк»

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*Note: I had already responded to this argument with an earlier email which I cannot yet locate where I explained that the bank's insistence that I provide a document from the tax authority in Lithuania is not specifically mandated in the contract. Therefore, the link to a different source about the laws of Lithuania that I provided should be sufficient to alleviate their concerns. However, since they appear to be ignoring or have forgotten that I already addressed this point, I did not respond to this email.

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October 9, 2024 at 10:12 AM

Good day!

We kindly ask you to fill the form of tax residence identification, you can find it attached. The bank is obliged by law to establish countries its clients pay taxes in. The same laws require you to provide us with your foreign TIN or SSN.
A taxpayer or tax resident is a person who, under the laws of a state, is subject to taxation based on their permanent or temporary residence or other criteria specific for each state.

How to submit information

— You need to indicate all the countries of your formal tax residency, not only the ones you in fact pay taxes in. It makes no difference if you actually pay taxes there or get any profit.
— If you are the USA tax resident, we kindly ask you to provide additionally the following documents:
W-9 form. It is a tax form provided by IRS
tax declaration for the previous tax year which you provided to the USA tax office. It will confirm your data from the W-9 form
print the form out, fill manually and then send us a scan or photo.
— If you are not the USA tax resident, you can fill the form digitally and send us back via e-mail. Or you can print it out, fill manually and then send us a scan or photo.
— It is important to submit the form in 2 weeks. If we do not get the information in time, we will have to block your cards or terminate the bank account agreement.

The legislative framework:
Federal Laws № 173-FZ of June 28, 2014, № 340-FZ of November 27, 2017
Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation №. 693 of June 16, 2018
Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account
Information about the CRS on the website of the FTS of the RF
 
If you have questions, please call:
Moscow: +7 495 287-12-44
Other regions: 8 800 770-77-04
More details: raif.ru/ooW2z3A
 
Лейсян, ID 1152160
Райффайзен Банк

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October 12, 2024 at 11:00 PM

I already filled out this form multiple times this year. If you close my account under these unlawful conditions I will sue.

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October 15, 2024 at 1:55 PM

Dear Mr. Vaughn,

You did provide information and sign the Form at the end of this year. However, in August of this year there were changes to the service requirements, so it is important for us to ask you to complete a new Form again, as well as provide additional documents.

Best regards,

Yulia, ID 1152127
AO Raiffeisenbank

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October 15, 2024 2:26 PM

Blow me

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October 16, 2024 at 12:47 PM

Good afternoon

If the documents are not provided, your cards will be blocked.

Любовь ID: 1152231
Райффайзен Банк

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October 16, 2024 at 10:11 PM
 
What documents are you requesting? I already filled out a form in July and had a lengthy, pointless correspondence with your staff. Why did you request your customers fill out the form in July if you were going to change your terms in August? Why isn’t there an automated process? Closing my accounts will not stop me from suing this bank once Trump is in office, I already have sufficient evidence for that.

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October 19, 2024 at 10:55

Good afternoon!

We believe you misunderstood the request. In this request, we ask you to fill out Form W9, which we are required to request by American law as part of our compliance with FATCA requirements. In addition to this, we ask for, for example, a copy of his US SSN card. The Bank's form does not need to be filled out or submitted again.
Thank you for your understanding and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Olga ID 1153001
JSC Raiffeisenbank

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October 19, 2024 at 9:48 PM

Your employee explicitly stated that "it is important for us to ask you to complete a new Form again," so I did not misunderstand, your bank neglected to provide consistent instructions and has now misrepresented our past interactions in an attempt to cover up previous missteps, possibly as part of a larger multi-year effort by the banking industry to keep me distracted from my investigations with busywork.

Regarding the FATCA requirements, my understanding is that my foreign accounts do not have enough funds to require me to report them. Thirdly, it sounds like you are asking for a copy of my SSN card, which in my experience, is not typically necessary or appropriate. I must have already provided identification in the form of a passport to open the account so what purpose and alternatives are there for this request?

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October 21, 2024 at 2:17 PM

Hello!

Thank you for your answer.

We no need information about your foreign bank accounts.

We kindly ask you to provide:

- W-9 form. It is a tax form provided by IRS https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf . Print the form out, fill manually and then send us a scan or photo.

- We also need copy of SSN card for identification with W-9 form.

Regards,

Lyudmila, ID 1153472
Compliance Support Sector
АО Raiffeisenbank

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October 21, 2024 at 4:14 PM

What alternatives are there to providing a copy of my SSN card which may be impossible to collect overseas within the timespan allotted?

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October 22, 2024 at 10:26 AM

Good day!

You can send confirmation from a tax agent about filing a declaration (it is enough to provide part of the document indicating the full name and SSN) or an extract about your receiving the SSN number

Наталья, ID 1153010
Райффайзен Банк
Команда поддержки по вопросам Compliance

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October 22, 2024 at 1:16 PM
 
Ok I have attached a tax declaration showing my SSN and a signed W-9 form

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October 24, 2024 at 12:42 PM

Good day!

We accepted documents. We excluded you from the blocking list.
Thank you. 

С уважением,
Алина ID 2183
АО «Райффайзенбанк»