The list of bank accounts continues to grow in Wells Fargo of clients of Cuban origin whose accounts have been frozen by the US bank due to doubts about the immigration status of their owners, who are asked to sign an affidavit about Cuba.
“What bothers me is that Wells Fargo never notified me. I realize when they make the deposit from my company that I see that it does not reach me”he said in statements to Telemundo 51Akmel Díaz Reyes, one of those affected, who was denied access to his money for 20 days.
His point of view coincides with that of others previously interviewed, who They have agreed to question the way in which the company develops this process, without prior notice to its clients.
Questioned about the matter, Karel Suareza lawyer specializing in commercial operations, warns that when clients sign their first contract with a bank, they are granting “significant power” to the banking entity.
“Banks at the beginning, when you create the account, there is a contract where you basically give the bank all the power to do many things. The bank can freeze the account so they can investigate many things, what the money is used for, where it comes from, among other matters.”he explained.
However, some clients, beyond the methods, which they do not consider to be the best since the entity does not warn of the freezing of the deposited money, consider the level of intrusion excessive.
“What does Wells Fargo have to do with me being an activist? Which I’m not, of course. These are things I do not understand”said Cuban Akmel Díaz Reyes, who described as “invasive” the Affidavit that requires the bank to sign.
The document forces clients to ensure that they have no ties to repressive entities of the regime and makes them promise that they will inform the bank of possible plans to return to live in Cuba.
Regarding that point, lawyer Karel Suárez specified that it is like a way for Wells Fargo to cover itself if the OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) comes later and tells them that they did not do things as they should.
The aforementioned media outlet recalls that Wells Fargo has said that they carry out this process in accordance with regulatory requirements and United States sanctions against Cuba, although the Federal Guide does not require an affidavit or the blocking of accounts.
In Wells Fargo’s latest statements to Telemundo 51the company said it is “doing everything possible to help affected customers and minimize inconvenience to them”while suggesting that affected people go to their bank branch and provide the necessary information as soon as possible.
At the beginning of December it was news that two Cuban-American owners of the Cubata bar, located in Little Havana, had not been able to pay their employees and suppliers because Wells Fargo had frozen their bank accounts due to doubts about their immigration status.
During those same days, the case of a Wells Fargo branch in Hialeah that unexpectedly froze the accounts of a Cuban permanent resident in the United States since the 1990s and his wife, a citizen of American origin, emerged.
At the moment, Wells Fargo continues without specifying how many clients are subject to this process, nor the criteria for requiring the signing of the affidavit.
