NBS wrongful dismissal lawsuit… There was nothing suspicious about transaction – Former Manager

Jul 05, 2019 News

---

Former Manager of New Building Society (NBS), Kent Vincent told a court yesterday that he found nothing suspicious about the transaction, which landed him and two other top officials of the Society before a Magistrate for fraud.

Since being charged and dismissed by the Society, along with two former NBS officials in 2007, this was the first time that Vincent was able to speak publicly on the matter.
Testifying under oath and led by his Attorney Robin Stoby S.C, the witness, who is currently employed as a Manager of Food For The Poor Guyana Inc., told the court that he spent more than a decade serving NBS.
He recalled that prior to his termination in 2007, he was the Operational Manager for NBS. The witness, however, disagreed with certain statements put forward by his attorney with regard to his duties at the Society.
Stoby was at the time making reference to the testimony of Dr. Nanda Gopaul, a Director of the NBS, with respect to his daily functions at the institution.
The witness, however, rebutted the claims of Gopaul. Further, in response to a list of questions based on the claims made by Dr. Gopaul, Vincent proffered to the court a series of “No Sir, I do not agree.”
“Was it usual for Directors like Dr. Gopaul to be present at the staff meetings?” asked the Senior Counsel
“No sir”, replied Vincent. He explained later that there was a meeting that Dr. Gopaul would attend, but it would consist of the Board of Directors.
Turning his attention to the alleged fraudulent transaction, which led to the dismissal of the three managers, Senior Counsel Stoby questioned his client specifically about the process involved to conduct the withdrawal from an account belonging to Bibi Khan.
During the line of questioning, Vincent also refuted claims by Dr. Gopaul that face verification was part of the process of identifying account holders. He noted instead that a number of steps were taken to verify account holders, especially in instances where withdrawals are made without a passbook. The passbooks in those cases were missing or lost.
While he admitted that withdrawals without a passbook were permitted by the Society, the witness told the Court that ordinary supervisors could not approve transactions over a $1 million.
“Transactions exceeding the $1 million benchmark needed approval from Senior Managers, like myself, Mr. Maurice Arjoon, Mr. (Nizam) Mohammed and Mr. Kissoon Baldeo.
“Did you find anything suspicious about the Power of Attorney, (POA) produced to conduct the transaction in question?” Stoby asked.
“No sir.”
“Was there anything suspicious about the signature on the document used?”
“No sir.”
In response to the questions proffered, the former Manager maintained that he had followed protocol. He told the court that during the process of verifying the authenticity of the transaction, he made contact with the account holder via telephone to ensure she was able to confirm the approximate balance on her account, her former address, date of birth and passport number.
Additionally, Mr. Vincent told the Court that the signature sent on the fax corresponded with the ones on record.
Questioned whether he was satisfied that he spoke with the account holder, the former Manager responded in the affirmative.
“Was the customer policy which Dr Nanda Gopaul mentioned in existence, while you were at NBS?”
“No, I never heard of it.”
“Dr. Gopaul also suggested that you were responsible for oversight of all the other branches at NBS. Is that so?”
“No Sir.”
“The branches were managed by the Board of Directors and Mr. Arjoon,” replied Vincent.
Further, the witness noted that all of the transactions over $1 million were authorised by “Mr. Arjoon, Mohammed, Baldeo and me.”
Vincent noted however that Mr. Mohammed went on leave one day before the POA was presented.
Vincent recalled that on one occasion when Mohammed was present, he refused to check the transaction, “he gestured to me to take it Mr. Arjoon”.
The witness told the Court, he contributed 13 years of service to society but was terminated without a warning. He said too that from the time the transaction was made to the time he was charged, there was no warning, disciplinary action, or any indication given about the impending termination by the Society.
Vincent is leading the 2nd lawsuit against the Society for wrongful termination.
NBS had faced a similar lawsuit filed by its former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Maurice Arjoon.
The High Court ruled in favour of Arjoon, who had claimed he and his Managers (Vincent and Baldeo) were set up and charged.
The trio faced charges of conspiracy to defraud the NBS of $69M, back in 2007.
The men faced a trial in the Magistrates’ Court.
The charges were later dismissed for lack of evidence.
Citing irreparable harm from the negative publicity and loss of salaries and benefits, Arjoon and Vincent moved to the High Court to seek redress.
In separate lawsuits, the former CEO and the Manager each claimed $550 million in damages from NBS for the wrongful dismissal.
After about seven years of intense legal battles, Arjoon was finally granted judgment by the Court to the tune of some $79 million.

 

---

---