Does a viral post show an Australian man being arrested for trying to take AU$5,000 from his bank account at a Commonwealth Bank branch in a suburb of Sydney? No, that's not true: Police records show the man was arrested for behaving offensively in public, not for any financial crime. He was also charged with hindering officers who tried to remove him from the bank, where he was alleged to have damaged a desk and a window. The X.com post contains no links or documentation that the man was arrested for trying to withdraw his own money.
The claim appeared with the video in a May 13, 2025 X post (archived here) on the @DiogoCohea account under the title "The world needs to understand what is happening in Australia..." It opened:
This man went to take $5,000 out his own bank account and was arrested for it
This is what the post on X looked like at the time this fact check was written:
(Source: X.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)
Nothing in the post corroborates or verifies the claim made in the post. Audio with the video sounds like observers jeering and commenting.
Using the bank name and reverse image searching, Lead Stories located the scene of the incident, a Commonwealth Bank branch at 168 Redfern Street in the South Sydney suburb of Redfern. In addition to the visual match of the bank entrance, the neighboring storefronts seen in the video as police drag the man to a waiting police van match those visible in the GoogleMaps street view looking across the street from the bank.
Lead Stories sent the X post and the geolocation of the scene of the video to the New South Wales Police Force to inquire as to the video's authenticity and details of the incident.
NSW Police media liaison Palesa Kaonga replied in a May 14, 2025 email, which included a copy of the report about the January, 2024 arrest. Called a "holding statement", she said, it was filed by officers who handled the incident. NSW Police reported the man did seek at 10:30 a.m. on January 18, 2024, to withdraw money, but police were told there were no funds available in his account. Police were called to the bank, where the man allegedly had damaged a desk and a window. Police were called back to the bank about 4 p.m. the same day, where the man was reported to have returned and was being abusive to bank staff. Police said he refused to leave and was arrested.
The police report emailed to Lead Stories, shown below, includes no charges of charges related to money, only offensive public behavior, refusal to comply with a proper directive, breach of bail, and hindering/resisting a police officer.
(Source: Gmail.com screenshot by Lead Stories.
Lead Stories has contacted Downing Centre Local Court for information on disposition of the case and will update this fact check when they reply. Lead Stories also contacted Commonwealth Bank for its statement on the incident and will update this report with their reply, when received.
Read more Lead Stories fact checks about events in Australia here.
