01 March 2024 , 13:17
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A Brit university graduate has been stranded in Thailand for weeks after NatWest shut his bank account without warning.
Yasin Belkadi was left with smashed teeth after he was violently mugged by around 10 masked thieves who stole his phone and wallet, before draining over £4,000 via Revolut.
The 23-year-old, from Tottenham, North London, was walking home from work on September 8 last year when he was attacked. He didn't have a lock set up on his phone and shortly after he began receiving emails confirming large quantities of money were being spent.
He alerted the neo banking app, which halted further transactions, but didn't return the stolen money until January when he received a police report confirming the mugging incident. In the meantime, Yasin had initially travelled to Thailand in October for an extended holiday and to get his teeth fixed cheaply.
He was relieved when Revolut agreed to reimburse him on January 4 but within minutes of the money returning, he said NatWest suspended his account and then the following day shut it down. On January 11, he was informed the bank had declined his appeal.
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Yasin was left with smashed teeth after being mugged (Yasin Belkadi)
The graduate says he had just £2.50 left after his account was closed (Yasin Belkadi)The graduate, who studied International Relations at Leicester University, told the Mirror he had around 110 Thai Baht (£2.50) in cash left. He has been staying with a local family who agreed to take him in, but his travel visa is due to run out today (March 1).
Yasin said: "I am currently very scared for my safety and wellbeing. NatWest’s actions have severely impacted me physically, emotionally and mentally."
He is currently estranged from his mum in the UK, and went on to say: "I’m at a loss at the moment, I don’t know what to do. I don’t have family help. When I come back to England I need to be able to be in my own place, which is why I need the money to leave and buy a flight.
"I’m just living off noodles and eggs right now in this Thai family’s second flat, but they need it back, so from then I’m s*** out of luck, really." Asked what will happen once his visa runs out, he said: "I think you’ll get fined 500 Baht a day. I am eligible for another 30 days when this expires but that costs money I don’t have. Everything is really tight and I’m just trying to figure things out."
Yasin has been stranded in Thailand for weeks (Yasin Belkadi)
Yasin has questioned why NatWest rejected his appeal (Yasin Belkadi)Referring to his dealings with NatWest, he said: "They denied my appeal straight away without reaching out or asking me anything. Without contacting me at all. I’ve contacted them multiple times in the last couple of months but just been told I have to wait.
"I could have shown them the police report, which shows the original thefts happened back in September. I could show the transactions from Revolut to show where the money’s come in from. It’s really just quite frustrating.
"When I was having a bunch of fraud done on me, to the tune of £4,000, nothing was being closed or done. But as soon as I get my money back it’s closed and I’m in a jeopardous situation now. It’s not like the money is out of line with the money I had in my account before. I save my money, I’m quite good with my money."
He said because Revolut "don't have people you can speak to on the phone" before they returned his money he had spent three months "on chatboxes 24/7". He added: "One lesson I learned, two factor authentication with your email is only as safe as your device. They would send email verifications to my email, obviously it’s on the phone and they had the access like that."
After being contacted by the Mirror, a NatWest spokesperson had previously confirmed today it has now returned Yasin's money and investigations are ongoing as to why such drastic action was taken. They said: “The money that was in his NatWest account has been returned to his Revolut account. So he should have access to it. The funds were sent yesterday.
"This was going to happen anyway, by coincidence, before you called. We’re just looking into why the account was closed… there’s obviously something that’s happened there for us to think it needed to be closed. We’re just trying to find out what it was. Hopefully, he can now access the funds and he can get back from Thailand.”
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An official NatWest statement later said: “The money that was in his NatWest account has been returned.” Yasin has confirmed the money has been returned and he is currently extending his visa, and is hopeful of flying back to the UK on Tuesday.
Revolut did not wish to comment when approached by the Mirror. We have also reached out to the Met Police.