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A 69-year-old Israeli retiree, Esther Freeman, followed the advice of her family members eight years ago and bought Bitcoin worth NIS 10,000 (approximately $ 3,160). After using the digital currency HODLing (acronym for Hold on for Dear Life) for eight years, Freeman decided that she wanted to convert some of her bitcoins into fiat money last June and found that the value of her cryptos was almost Reached NIS 1 million.
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“I’m young at heart,” said Freeman, who lives in assisted living. “I listened to my son and nephew and decided to give it a try. I had no prior knowledge of the matter and was completely naive. I never dreamed that NIS 10,000 could become almost NIS 1 million.”
Esther Freeman. Photo: Haim Hornshtein
However, the fairytale story does not have a happy ending. Freeman filed a lawsuit in Tel Aviv District Court last week by lawyers Shaul Zioni and Lior Kiperman of Zioni, Pillersdorf, Phillip Advocates against Bank Hapoalim after the bank refused to deposit the funds it received through its Bitcoin Investment had amassed. Freeman has had an account with the bank for 40 years, but the bank claims they refuse to accept the money because Freeman bought the bitcoins in cash and therefore has no way of verifying the money path.
“The nature of digital currencies allows them to be transmitted anonymously and unregulated, often circumventing the need to use financial institutions that are regulated to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and therefore it is an activity of great importance.” Anti-money laundering and terrorist financing risk, “the bank wrote in a letter to Freeman.
“The bank knows me,” said Freeman. “I don’t have any money anywhere except at the Hapoalim bank. They know that I’m not a money launderer and have nothing to do outside of the bank. I’m a pensioner and all of my four children also have” I need this money to help one of my children buy a house to help and for my own good. ”
“Unfortunately, despite repeated court convictions on the matter, some banks continue to make it difficult for innocent customers to deposit funds from digital currencies without giving a reason,” added attorney Shaul Zioni. “This case is particularly absurd since the plaintiff has been a pensioner and has been a customer of the bank for 40 years and needs the money.”
The bank Hapoalim said in response: “In accordance with the complaint, the customer requested to deposit funds of around 1 million NIS from Bitcoin. According to the customer, her son bought the bitcoin for her in cash, the lawsuit did not provide any actual documentation to verify the cash transaction, and some of the facts cited in the lawsuit indicated that the bitcoin was in the customer’s possession over time different wallets and t kept in a single wallet. The reason for the transfer between the wallets has not been clarified. In view of these circumstances, in which the purchase was made in cash and the bitcoins were transferred between the wallets, the bank is legally obliged to be the source of the money, which in this case was not possible. As soon as we have received the legally required documents, we can deposit the money into the customer’s account. “
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