You're right.. on paper the amount is technically there and
should be able to be withdrawn as and when the customer requires
it.
However as not everyone will withdraw all their savings and
investments at the same time, the bank will use a certain portion
of the amount (up to a certain fixed percentage) for its own
benefit (within MAS rules and regulations of course) such as
lending credit to others (eg. Credit Cards, housing loans) or even
in corporate investments.
This has nothing to do with MingFreeman's mother's issue, though.
Funds are earmarked only when a transaction has happened.. or when
the customer has done something to the account..
One thing though, MingFreeman, how do you know exactly that the
amount has been used for a loan?
for now, i can only assume 4 possibilities :
1. The unit trust may have been ear-marked for some other
transaction your mother made and in which she did not
remember.
2. The earmark may have been made in error. Error transactions that
don't involve cash happens more often than the public is aware of,
but usually to little or no consequences.
3. A relative or friend of your mum's may have gone to Hougang
branch and tried to forge her signature to gain access to the
funds.
4. You may still be right, that a staff of DBS actually tampered
with her account.
But don't worry, DBS overall is still very strict with its rules
and regulations and all you need to do is to wait for the
investigation, which usually takes a period of 1 - 3 weeks (this is
the norm from what i've been told). You can call them frequently
(like once, twice a week) to harrass them to hurry up though
they sometimes do speed up if they find the
customer troublesome.
Used to work in UOB once so may be able to offer a bit more insight
^^
