[ADOMBUSINESS] Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) has terminated the bank account of Joedith Ventures Limited without providing tangible reasons why the bank took such a decision.
In a letter dated May 30, 2013, titled ?Notice of Account Closure ? Joedith Ventures Limited?, addressed to the Chairman of the company, Joseph Kwame Donkor, the bank said ?this is to formerly put you on notice of the decision of the Bank to terminate its banking relationship with you.?
The letter, signed by Head of Service Quality and Re-engineering, Consumer Banking Division, Akweley Laryea requested the chairman of the company to, within four weeks, make alternative banking arrangements and contact his Branch Manager with a valid ID to be taken through the closure process.
The letter also urged the chairman of the company to submit all Bank instruments such as cheque books and ATM cards to his Branch Manager when visiting to collect his remaining funds from Stanchart.
?Any balance in your account will be paid to you by bank draft or transfer to you account with another bank,? the letter said, adding ?should you have any concerns regarding the information please contact your Branch Manager at the High Street branch.?
The letter did not state any reason for the decision to close the account.
Meanwhile, just last year, Joedith Venture Limited (JVL) sold US$4million to Stanchart and the foreign exchange division of Stanchart actually called the Chairman of JVL and congratulated and described him as one of the best clients of the bank.
The Chairman of JVL, Joseph Donkor said he was therefore surprised at the sudden decision by Stanchart to terminate its relationship with JVL.
Meanwhile, Joseph Donkor?s personal account at Stanchart remains intact as the bank has not given any indication of closing that one too.
Lawyers of the company, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co. wrote to Stanchart on June 27, 2013 asking why the account was being terminated without any stated reason, but the bank replied in a letter dated 5th July, 2013 saying that it has the right to terminate relationship with any client and did not owe the client any explanation.
In a related development, two other customers of Stanchart, Ricky Anokye and Clarita Anokye have also told ADOMBUSINESS the bank placed a ?red flag? on each of their accounts at a time when they needed money to do business.
The two said upon investigation they were told that it was part of a random security exercise to ensure that customers are operating within the contract they signed with the bank from the onset.
Clarita Anokye told ADOMBUSINESS money she had cashed from her account was taken back from same day because the bank said they could not debit her account, adding that later on she was told that the deposits going into her account were higher than figure she signed to from the start.
But according to her, she never put a figure on how much deposits would not going into her account, adding that ?the bank needs to employ qualified people to guide new clients properly instead of recruiting people who only point new clients to spots on the form to sign without telling the client the implications.?
She said she has asked the bank to retrieve her form and show her where she provided a specific figure regarding the amount of deposits.
ADOMBUSINESS would follow both issues and bring the updates.
