Hey everyone!

Just recently I wrote a detailed post about the whole saga with our funds that were frozen by Canada. In December 2025, we finally received all our money in our account, except for $10 from each transfer, which, as it turned out, J.P. Morgan charged, but whatever.

It was both joyful that the money finally came back, and frustrating that no one will ever be held accountable or compensate for the losses from inflation. But I had no more energy to deal with it, nor the resources or faith to sue Global Affairs and actually win anything.

The Accidental Email from RBC

A couple of weeks after receiving the transfers, I was walking home tired when I got what seemed like an unremarkable email from RBC saying “your money is in your accounts.” I opened the email and was, to put it mildly, stunned. They had completely accidentally (or accidentally-on-purpose) included in this email a very curious piece of internal correspondence from 2022 about the transfer!

On March 12, 2022, an RBC employee wrote to another RBC employee the following:

We are FAILING this payment on FMF as this payment needs to be blocked. Pls arrange to credit the USD funds to our G/L Account #…. (AML/ATF Blocked Funds Account). Pls also arrange to send the below message to remitting bank…………………Regards

Pls be advised that we have blocked this payment as ordering institution (ALFA - BANK) is an entity designated under the Canadian Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations. In order to have the funds released, pls approach the sanctions Division of Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Government of Canada and apply for a permit

To say I was stunned is an understatement. My mind was spinning!

My Reaction and What This Means

Let me explain what was going through my head when I saw this. Since March 12, 2022, RBC knew perfectly well that my money was blocked in a special account. Not a single employee, NOT ONE, told me about this. On the contrary, they said they had no idea what was happening and didn’t know what transfer I was talking about.

I communicated with a dozen employees from different branches, and every single one told me that the transfer didn’t exist in their system. Like an idiot, I kept proving to them that the transfer was with them (because I had confirmations from Alfa Bank and JP Morgan).

Moreover, even after we received our permits to unblock the funds in October 2025, RBC continued saying they had no idea what I was talking about. I had to show them all the SWIFT transfer receipts again, make calls, ask them to investigate, and even call the CRA y on their recommendation because they confused the Tax Agency with the Ministry of Global Affairs (!!!).

What RBC Told Me from February 2022 to October 2025

  • We don’t have any transfers
  • Why do you think the transfers are with us
  • Contact Alfa / JP Morgan, we don’t have anything
  • Well, there are some sanctions, maybe you’re on a list. Oh, you’re not on a list? Well, I don’t know
  • We’ve contacted all internal departments, but we don’t see any transfers

I’ll emphasize again: from February 2022 to October 2025, I was waiting for a permit to unblock the funds, but it was our assumption that the money was blocked. No one, absolutely no one, ever told us “your money is blocked in an account, contact Global Affairs.”

Yes, I see in the second part of the message that they asked Alfa to send a message that the funds were blocked. Alfa Bank on their end only told us in June 2022 that Global Affairs had created a procedure for applying for permits if funds were blocked, and they assumed this was our situation.

But honestly, I don’t care what RBC told Alfa Bank (and I don’t even know if they actually told them anything). I have no complaints against Alfa Bank as they did their part by sending the payment to Canada. The only thing is, if they had allowed us to do this immediately rather than through a personal manager who only works on weekdays and takes their time, this whole story would have just been a bad dream. RBC, meanwhile, never once told me, their client, that the funds were blocked and I needed to contact Global Affairs.

Filing the Complaint

Now that I learned RBC knew from the very beginning—naturally, I wanted financial and moral compensation from RBC and decided to try the free route: file a complaint.

You can actually always file a complaint against a bank with OBSI (the ombudsman). But first you need to file a complaint with the bank itself, and only then escalate. You might ask, how do I know all this? After almost 4 years of researching every possible way to get our money back, I’ve learned quite a bit!

After gathering all the proof that RBC was wrong in this situation, I wrote them a complaint and demanded compensation for damages of $11,000 (approximate loss from inflation).

I’ll say it again: yes, I understand that they weren’t the ones who kept my money blocked under sanctions. But they lied to me this entire time.

The First RBC’s Response

Within a week, they called me and said that in their opinion, even if I had known the funds were blocked, nothing would have changed. Global Affairs wouldn’t have issued the permit any earlier, and I would have lost the money to inflation anyway.

But how do they know, are they fortune tellers? Maybe I would have contacted Global Affairs earlier, been the very first one, and they would have responded to me right away! We don’t know how it would have been because that time has already passed.

And besides, I didn’t know where my transfer was for 3.5 years. I spent tons of time, energy, and money trying to figure out how things worked, all while living in uncertainty as their employees denied everything.

So I disagreed with their position. They accepted this and escalated the complaint higher up, but still within the bank itself.

The Second RBC’s Response

Another week later, a different employee contacted me to understand what happened and how. As I was explaining, I could hear in her voice that she was somewhat shocked by everything I was saying, and there seemed to be hope that I would be heard. But I understood perfectly well that she wasn’t the decision-maker (honestly, who knows who decides what at RBC).

The Final Response

And yesterday I received an email saying they had reviewed my complaint and disagreed that they had done anything wrong, plus they had communicated the information to Alfa Bank (or more precisely, they asked an employee to communicate it. Whether they actually did or not, we’ll never know).

But they understand there was a “gap” in their processes and offered me a “goodwill gesture” of $96.

Hahaha. Honestly, I literally laughed out loud.

And they even provided some formula: $4 per month for 24 months. Where these numbers came from, why $4 per month, WHY for 24 months? We’ll never know the answers to these questions lol.

What’s Next

At first, I thought I’d refuse and continue complaining. But then I reread the email and realized I could continue complaining to OBSI regardless, so I wrote them that I disagree, credit your $96 to my account, and I’m going to continue complaining (and spent a few more hours preparing the next complaint).

They responded that they need 10 business days for the transfer. Okay, okay, thank goodness it’s not 3.5 business years!

On Reddit I’ve read that OBSI can’t always be helpful, but we’ll see. I don’t have the resources for a lawsuit anyway, so I’m fighting with whatever free methods I can.

Anyway, that’s the story. What do you think, will I manage to get anything? Wish me luck :)

To be continued!

P.S. RBC also told me that there are about 400 people like me in their system. And they lied to all of them, just FYI.