Republic Bank breach of contract trial… Company had no knowledge of $82 M deposit made to accounts –Bulkan

May 05, 2018 News

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Testifying under Oath on Thursday, Ronald Bulkan, told the court of uncovering a deposit of some $82 M made to his Republic Bank account in June 2011. According to Bulkan, the deposit was into the account without his knowledge.
He is currently on the witness stand in the trial for which Republic Bank Limited is accused of breaching a contract with Precision Woodworking Limited.
Bulkan and his brother, Rustum Bulkan, as Proprietors of Precision Woodworking had taken the Bank to Court over the unlawful appointment of a receiver.
In the statement of claim, Precision had noted that the Company engaged the bank on June 30, 2011 regarding the loans.
The company had claimed that it repaid about $513M in full but the interest stood at some $327M. As a result, the company’s indebtedness amounted to in excess of $406M.
The company is claiming that prior to engaging the Bank regarding an arrangement with Torginol Paints for the sale of properties at some $230M, the Bank was informed of its efforts to find another buyer.
The Bank, according to Precision, had also received an initial $30M as part of a first purchase from the buyer but later informed the company that Kashir Khan had been appointed as its receiver to take control of its assets even after the company reached an agreement with the bank to repay a non-performing loan.
It is against this backdrop that Precision is claiming that it is unlawful to appoint a receiver after it had reached certain arrangements to repay the loan. The trial is continuing before Justice Navindra Singh at the Georgetown High Court.
Bulkan, who is currently Minister of Communities, had previously testified about a meeting with Bank officials to settle the debt.
In his evidence on Thursday, Bulkan recalled making inquiries about the balance in the company’s account after he noticed that the interest as per percentage was disproportionate to the principle.
The witness said that as a result, he made inquiries about the disparity from his Accounts Manager, Sase Jagnandan, but (Jagnandan) could not provide an explanation.
Bulkan said that the Accounts Manager instead referred him to Brenda Munroe of Republic Bank.
The witness recalled that he tried to make contact with Munroe, whom he had met at the engagement to settle the debt.
The witness recalled that he did not get to speak with Munroe but he spoke to Nigel Trotman, another staff member.
Trotman could not provide the explanation as it regarded the disparity with the balances. Bulkan noted nonetheless that during the conversation with Trotman, he learnt of a deposit made to his account on June 16, 2011 to the tune of $82,068,617. The account had previously contained $ 193,689,074.21.
He told the court that he had no knowledge of the $82,068,617 deposit and wanted to know how the sum ended up in his bank account.
In search of a plausible explanation, the witness recalled that he contacted the Bank several times to query the $275,757,691 bank balance.
On the afternoon of July 15, 2011, Bulkan said that he again called the Bank to speak with Ms. Munroe but he was unable able to speak with her.
This time, Bulkan said that he spoke to Yolanda Grogan. Grogan is Munroe’s deputy. The witness said that he asked Grogan for an explanation relating to the questionable bank balance. He recalled that Grogan told him that she had already shutdown her system for the day; the only way she could have accessed the information is if she asked for permission from her superiors. She promised to return his call but never did.
Bulkan said it was a Friday afternoon that he spoke with Ms. Grogan. So, he waited until the following Monday and again contacted the Bank.
He said that he against spoke to Grogan and queried about the accounts.
This time, however the witness said that he was put on hold and then he spoke with another person, who identified herself as Ms. Munroe.
“I queried the information…I asked how is it these figures were different and I told her I did not make that ($82, 068, 617) deposit.”
Bulkan recalled Munroe told him that the $82,068,617 represented an internal transaction.
She said I should not have been told about the transaction and it therefore should be of no concern to us. He said that he disagreed with Munroe and started to explain to her over the phone why he needed the information.
At this point, Attorney for Republic Bank, Robin Stoby S.C, objected to the statements made from the witness stand. The lawyer noted that the statements were heading into the realm of speculation. His objection was noted by the Court. The matter is set to continue on Monday.

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