Some staff of defunct Heritage Bank have accused the Receiver from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Vish Ashiagbor of shortchanging them.
According to them, Mr Ashiagbor has refused to pay what is due to them amid the dispute.
Justice Bonney, who spoke on behalf of the staff questioned the legitimacy of the package being negotiated.
He also said the person selected to represent the staff in the negotiations was done without their consent.
“They agreed on three and a half months salary cap of GHc20,000 with first-quarter fuel allowance and then first quarter clothing allowance.”
“We didn’t get any communication from our reps and before we realised, that agreement had been signed on our behalf. Our head of HR [was not supposed to be] a representative on that negotiation table to the best of our knowledge.”
“Our position is that even with the MoU, we were not communicated to and it was signed by somebody who did not represent our interest,” Justice Bonney said.
BoG revokes Heritage license
The Bank of Ghana revoked the license of Heritage Bank in 2018 after it discovered a number of anomalies relating to its licensing, the sources of its capital, and related party transactions.
Providing reasons for the revocation of the license, the central bank said Heritage bank’s capital appears to have come from sources which were suspicious.
According to the Bank of Ghana, the shareholders of the bank were specified as Mr Seidu Agongo, Ms Fatima Adamu, Sarago Limited, and Mr Sylvanus Kotey who together purportedly met the minimum paid-up capital of GHC 120 million.
The Bank of Ghana said it was not satisfied that the original sources of the bank’s capital.
The central bank concluded that pursuant to sections 9 and 12 of Act 930, the majority shareholder of the bank, Mr Agongo, does not meet the “fit and proper person” test, adding that the bank failed to meet the ¢400 million capital required as of 31st December 2018.
Defunct Heritage bank workers asked to go home
The Receiver of defunct Heritage Bank, Vish Ashiagbor in February 2019 directed that all branches of the bank across the country should cease operations except the Tema Community 1, and Suame – Kumasi branches.
A letter by Vish Ashiagbor sighted by Citi Business News said: “Consolidated Bank Ghana will cease to operate the former branches of Heritage bank after close of business on Thursday, 28 February 2019”.
It added that “unless specifically requested, all the Receiver’s consultant staff will no longer be required to physically report to work at the former branches or Head Office daily”.
The workers were subsequently promised allowances in line with the consultancy contracts for the term of the contract which ended on March 31, 2019.
Source: citinewsroom.com
