I am going to die. I do not know exactly how long I have to live but my death is imminent. I think I may have 10 days before the medications that keep me from death run out. Currently, at the writing of these words, I have no access to money to replenish the medications. It isn't that I do not have money. It is that I have absolutely no access to the money that I have.



I will begin to have the following symptoms sooner or later after I run out of medication:

Increased sensitivity to cold

Constipation

Pale, dry skin

A puffy face

Hoarse voice

elevated blood cholesterol level

Unexplained weight gain

Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness

Pain, stiffness or swelling in your joints

Muscle weakness

Heavier than normal menstrual periods

Depression

The longer I go without the medications the worse the symptoms will become. I will develop something called myxedema. Though it is rare, but it can be life threatening. Signs and symptoms include low blood pressure, decreased breathing, decreased body temperature, unresponsiveness and even coma. In some cases, myxedema can be fatal. I am sure my demise will come more quickly because of the additional problem of a pre-existing heart condition. I also can't access my money to buy the medications to control that.

My wife and I moved to Guanajuato, Mexico in August 2003. The reason we did is because we were forced to expatriate due to the impossibility of paying for medications in the United States. In addition, I have Fibromyalgia Syndrome and all its accompanying problems. We became unable to afford the meds we needed to continue living. We had to leave America. So we found a solution: Mexico. Here I can buy all my medications for the cost of ONE co-pay with the American insurance we had. Moving to Mexico was a no-brainer for us.

What the U.S. Federal Government has done is forbid me from having an American Bank account into which my disability payments?our very living?has been deposited. In fact, the balance I had in my account as well as my December 3rd, 2007 directly deposited disability check is missing. The bank account was closed suddenly and without warning two weeks ago and we have had no access to our money ever since.

We were banking with Netbank (Atlanta, Georgia), an Internet and international bank. Through some bad decisions made by the officers at Netbank, the Feds closed Netbank down. The bank known as, ING, allegedly bought the accounts from Netbank. On November 23rd, 2007 our ATM cards stopped working. When I checked the Netbank website I found my account closed. Though I knew ING would be buying Netbank's accounts, we were led to believe from a letter ING sent that the transition would be seamless and we the customers need not worry or do anything.

When I immediately internationally called ING from Mexico, I was told my account was closed because I live in Mexico. As a U.S. citizen, I have my primary residence in Mexico. I do have a legal address in Florida from which I receive my mail. However, according to ING as well as all the big name banks we called, because we live in Mexico as our primary residence, we are denied an account. All the banks we called claimed the American Federal Government is forcing the banks to comply with some provision of the Patriot Act that essentially:

?PRESUMES GUILT OF MONEY LAUNDERING, DRUG RUNNING, TERRORISM

As a born and bred American citizen it is presumed that unless I can prove my innocence by supplying an American address (they term: a physical address) that I am running drugs, involved in a money laundering scheme, or am a terrorist and therefore cannot open an American bank account. They want me to show a lease, utilities in my name, or a phone number in my name. Or, they want me to show a driver's license or State Id with my U.S. physical address on it.

I have lived in Mexico for almost five years. I no longer drive due to my illness. My wife let her driver's license lapse since we live here now. And for our trouble we not only had our bank account closed, but someone, and it isn't us, has our money preventing us from buying life-sustaining medications.

SUMMARY:

As a chronically ill American with an incurable illness, I was denied, in America, affordable drugs that I needed to survive.

I had to move to and become a resident of Mexico in order to afford life-sustaining medications.

I had a perfectly good bank account with Netbank that made horrible financial decisions that ended up getting themselves shut down by the feds.

When ING bank bought the accounts they closed ours since we lived in Mexico. They did not warn me through any means of communication. They simply deactivated the account leaving me no access to my money.

The balance I had in my account is missing. I do not have it. Someone took it out of our account and it was neither me nor my wife who withdrew it.

I called Netbank and ING Bank and neither of them can tell me where my money is.

No bank in the U.S. will open a new account for us so I can have my disability payments directly deposited because they claim that unless I prove my innocence that I am not a drug runner laundering drug money with possible terrorist ties, that I am guilty of those crimes and cannot have an account.

As an American citizen I am being presumed to be guilty of something instead of being presumed innocent. I am being denied my basic human rights of the presumption of innocence until PROVEN guilty. The burden of proof is upon me instead of those who make the allegation of guilt.

The standard of proof that would get me an American bank account is IMPOSSIBLE since I am an expatriate in Mexico. I cannot fly to American, rent a house, and turn on the utilities in my name, just so I can get an account in an American bank.

My Disability check has also disappeared into the Netbank/ING Bank/Patriot Act Twilight Zone.

I am asking for help. I am asking for immediate help before my medications run out on me. I think I have about ten days worth of meds left and then?death!

What has happened is not just unfair but should be illegal.

Unless I can suddenly regain access to my money, I will most certainly die. I cannot live without the thyroid or heart medication.

I am not the one who made bad financial decisions, as did those at Netbank. I should not be punished for that. Nor should I be punished for the sins of drug runners, money launderers, or terrorists.

I had to move to Mexico because I could not afford to live in America, the land of my birth. I am being punished for that decision also.

I should not be punished by being denied an American bank account because the government cannot seem to control Americans committing criminal acts in the United States. I should not be punished for having to live in another country with better prescription costs and a lower cost of living.

I should not be punished for the sins and mistakes of someone else.

And, I should not be denied access to my money.