Kraken closed my account, stole my assets and doesn't reply

[jbdee]

[REMOVED]

[Oshosondy]

That is one thing about custodial exchanges, not your key not your coin applies to this. Kraken is located in San Francisco
City in California USA. If you are from USA, it will be easier. All you need to do is to just get yourself a lawyer and file a lawsuit against Kraken. If you are not trading, make use of noncustodial wallet to store your coins, $40000 to $50000 is huge.

[stompix]

On 6th December 2021, they tell me they disabled my account because my bank made a recall for a transfer of XXXX EUR on 16th September 2021. I ask for details, they refuse to give me anything, they won't even tell me from what bank account it has been sent and tell me I should contact my bank.

I finally found by myself where the transfer came from, I explain Kraken and show proofs that I'm not the one who made the recall and this bank account has been closed months ago. I tried to contact the bank but they replied they cannot help me because I'm not one of their customers...

So, Kraken says that they've received a refund request for a deposit you've made on the 16th, or what does that recall mean?
You tried to contact the bank and they denied releasing the info because you're no longer a customer?
The second one doesn't make sense, every bank under EU jurisdiction must hold the information about your account for 5 years and they are by law required to provide you with a statement, of course, won't be free since you're not a client but they must provide that.

How did you find out about the transfer if neither Kraken nor your bank are releasing that info to you?
You're withholding some information from this, I'm almost sure of it, but hey that's your decision!

Anyhow, the steps are clear if you have nothing to hide and you know you haven't done anything wrong, a letter to the FBF first for your bank statements and information about that transfer and then the AMF for the Kraken issues, they are both required to give you an answer on your issue, positive or not.
With that you go and contact a lawyer, going first to a lawyer won't solve much as this stage will still need to be cleared, your lawyer will just tax you more for it for extra work you can do yourself.







 

[o_e_l_e_o]

As much as Kraken are being particularly unhelpful here, from their point of view you deposited fiat, bought bitcoin with it, then stole the fiat back from them. It is entirely within the Terms Service you agreed to when you opened an account with Kraken that they now close your account (emphasis mine):

Suspension; Termination

In the event of any Force Majeure Event (as defined in Section 24.5), breach of these Terms, or any other event that would make provision of the Services commercially unreasonable for Payward, we may, in our discretion and without liability to you, with or without prior notice, suspend your access to all or a portion of our Services. We may terminate your access to the Services in our sole discretion, immediately and without prior notice, and delete or deactivate your Kraken Account and all related information and files in such account without liability to you, including, for instance, in the event that you breach any term of these Terms. In the event of termination, Payward will attempt to return any Funds stored in your Kraken Account not otherwise owed to Payward, unless Payward believes you have committed fraud, negligence or other misconduct.

From Kraken's point of view, you have committed fraud and so they are within their rights to do what they have done.

So what you need to do instead is contact the bank and figure out who initiated a recall of 4,238 EUR, and why they processed it when you were no longer a customer? It could be a simple mistake, it could be that you did not have enough money in your account to process the transaction in the first place, maybe you had outstanding debts to the bank and they recalled the money to cover them, maybe someone is impersonating you or trying to steal your identity, etc.

[stompix]

I'm not a customer so they don't want to send me anything.

The laws are clear here, they have to provide you with every single of your transaction information for 5 years since this has been made, it doesn't matter the UK is not part of the EU, the obligations are the same, even if you're not a customer anymore, even if you're not a French citizen anymore if they refuse to contact your bank mediator.

What is FBF? and AMF?

Hmm, things are getting complicated, I thought it was a french bank, steps will be the same but it will take a lot longer. AMF is Autorité des Marchés Financiers, FBF is Fédération des Banques Françaises, both have mediator services > https://lemediateur.fbf.fr/
I suggest you open a copy of this topic in the French subsection, although I'm also an EU citizen there are a lot of differences between countries when it comes to laws and the financial institutions regulating the markets, so french poeple will know better to guide you if you want to pursue a lawsuit.

EDIT: The bank was Revolut, so don't be surprised of their shady behaviors...

I've always told poeple, don't use Revolut if you're dealing with another foreign company, it just adds more to the mess in case of a dispute, of course, it's too late now but for everyone following this topic should be a wake-up call, use a damn traditional national bank, and least they can't try to weasel their way out by not answering emails.

[o_e_l_e_o]

As I said, few times already, I'm not a customer (account closed) so the bank said they cannot send me anything.

As stompix has said, this is incorrect. You were a customer, and so the bank will have retained all your records on file (otherwise they are operating illegally).

EDIT: They also did NOT tell me that they closed my account, and didn't say anything about my current assets, they just reply "We cannot comment on this dispute any further.".

Exchange sometimes reply with this kind of thing when there is an active investigation going on in to suspected fraud or other shady activity. Or it might just be a scummy centralized exchange not caring about their customers.

I don't use Revolut, but the small print on their website says they are regulated by the Bank of Lithuania and the Financial Conduct Authority, which is a UK agency. I would think they could be your next points of contact if Revolut are being obstructive. There is a complaints procedure outlined on their French site here: https://www.revolut.com/en-FR/legal/complaints-policy

[I_savor_your_pets]

You can easily sue Kraken without being in the US and without paying a steep price. Some lawyers write demand letters for $25 and represent you for $500.

Here's what you can try:

1. Find a lawyer located near Kraken's US office

2. Verify your identity with the lawyer

3. Pay the lawyer and let the lawyer deal with Kraken

The lawyer can represent you in court if Kraken decides to fight you, and you don't ever need to set foot in America. Many courts these days also hold zoom meetings.

Just know your case could drag out for years if you sue in a federal court. If you take it to small-claims, it might be much faster, but expect to recover at most ~$20K.

[I_savor_your_pets]

I don't know any lawyer who practices near Kraken's office. You can talk to any business lawyer or just about any affordable lawyer near you to find out how to sue Kraken in the cheapest and best way. This is how I learned how to sue Paxful from outside the US. Just talk to any qualified lawyer near you first. Most lawyers offer free 1st-time consultations, and you city might also have free legal clinics.

Kraken is ignoring you because they know there is nothing you can do to get your money back without proper legal help.

[BitMaxz]

EDIT: The bank was Revolut, so don't be surprised of their shady behaviors...

They do have a bank license but they are not a bank they are offering digital or VCC from their apps. I have experienced using it before.
Read this "Is Revolut a bank?"

Can you recommend me any lawyer?

It's not like I have another choice... If I don't sue them, how can I get back my 50k$?

US has SEC(Securities and Exchange Commission) so the UK has FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) So try to report them to FCA and maybe they can help you with your issue.
Read this https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart/cryptoasset-investment-scams

[dkbit98]

I saw increasing reports from people related with Kraken exchange and OP you are not the only one with this issue, so maybe try to connect with those people and file one big lawsuit together.
Before doing that you can try once again contacting Kraken support and their CEO Jesse Powell on Twitter and other social media accounts.
Lesson learned, don't keep any money and coins on centralized exchanges long term.

[Woodie]

What should I do?

Aside from seeking lawyer, you could try contacting them publicly through their social media to gain attention.

This one always works, put the case out in the open to draw them out as reputation in the public is golden and they will try by all means to keep a clean record and give this case the attention it deserves, good luck.

Can someone recommend me a lawyer to handle this case?

Without disclosing your nationality (since Kraken is available in lots of countries), i doubt anyone could recommend you lawyer.

Good lawyers don't come cheap and unfortunately the nature of how cryptocurrencies are needs a lawyer who is tech savvy to know how to get the best defense/offense out of this crypto situation.

[bbc.reporter]

@jbdee. In your post you mentioned that you have finally found where the bank transfer came from. You have also mentioned that you contacted the bank but the bank replied that they cannot help you because you are not a customer of the bank.

Why would anyone make a bank transfer to your Kraken account? It appears that this might be a moneylaundering issue from Kraken’s position. Also, how much was transferred and recalled? Was it more than $10,000?