By Modupe Gbadeyanka
On Wednesday, there was a report in the media that a customer with Heritage Bank, Geonel Integrated Services Limited, ran to a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the closure of the bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) because it was no longer capable of meeting its obligatory engagements with customers.
Geonel Integrated Services Limited, an Abuja based company, alleged that Heritage bank has been showing signs of distress and insolvency in the recent times and may cause colossal economic damages to Nigerians unless it is shut down on court order.
In the petition filed by the security outfit, it claimed that it maintains four separate accounts with Nos. 1300083902, 6200100931, 6000105125 and 3200121515 as well as a fixed deposit account at the Abuja branch of the bank.
Petitioner owned by a foreign investor, Mr Wolfgang Reinl, an Australian Security Experts claimed it has N1,811,555,258 and another $85,859 in the accounts and that the huge sums have been trapped in the bank due to its inability to meet up with its expected obligations.
The company alleged that it had made several applications through cheques to transact withdrawal business but that the bank had failed and neglected to honour the cheques.
It, therefore, urged the court to declare the bank distressed, insolvent and to hold that the bank is indebted to it to the tune of N1.8 billion and another $85,859 and also seek the closure of Heritage Bank and also compelling the CBN to withdraw or revoke the banking licence of the bank.
But Heritage Bank, in a statement made available to Business Post on Wednesday night, refuted the customer’s claims that it was insolvent.
The bank explained in the statement that Geonel Integrated Services Limited has been unable to withdraw its money because there was a court order to freeze the accounts operated with Heritage Bank due to an ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“We want to categorically state that the allegation is not true as the Geonel Integrated Services Limited’s account is currently being investigated for financial crimes by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC),” Heritage Bank said in the statement.
Heritage Bank pointed out that it was “advised formally to freeze the account by the federal agency through court injunction pending when the investigation will be concluded.”
It noted that the “investigation is still ongoing and the bank is under obligation to respect a valid order of court.”
Concluding, Heritage Bank emphasised that it is “not distressed as being malevolently reported,” stating categorically that it is still “capable to honour its obligations to customers and numerous stakeholders alike.”
