…as bank closes door with staff, customers to avoid levy

SEVERAL executives of the New Building Society (NBS) were on Tuesday evening detained by police after a drama-filled afternoon at the bank in which the financial institution prematurely closed its doors, falsely imprisoning several persons inside including customers, a police officer, an attorney and two court marshals during a standoff with the police.

The incident stemmed from a move by the court to enforce a levy as marshals moved to seize assets relative to a court’s decision in which judgment valued $59M was awarded to former CEO of the mortgage lender, Maurice Arjoon on the claim of wrongful dismissal. During the events on Tuesday, the bank reportedly hurriedly wrote a cheque of the amount the court awarded to Arjoon last year and handed it to his daughter.

Drama unfolds
Court marshals also seized a vehicle from the financial institution. The drama unfolded around midday on Tuesday, when several court marshals turned up at the bank’s headquarters at the corner of the Avenue of the Republic and North Road to enforce the levy when the bank’s management decided to close its doors. At the time, several customers who were inside the bank, including Arjoon’s daughter Gina, were trapped while an attorney, a police rank and two court marshals were also caught up in the lockdown.

Police Deputy ‘A’ Division Commander Wendell Blanhum and other police ranks were on the scene while several lawyers, including Attorney Sanjeev Datadin, Arjoon’s lawyer, stood haplessly outside the bank. Datadin later told reporters that the police were investigating the issue along the line of false imprisonment. He said the police took statements from the bank’s management as well as persons who were kept against their will. He said the levy proceedings were stayed after the bank signed a cheque for $59M which reportedly represents pension owed to Arjoon. The man’s daughter collected the cheque.

Earlier, Datadin said an appeal was pending after the bank had filed for a stay of execution of the court’s order. “The order is made for judgment, the Court of Appeal affirmed that there is no stay of execution on that judgment,” he said. “Mr Arjoon has waited 12 years for this,” he said.

He said that once a levy has started, one cannot interfere, noting that the bank acted in contempt of the court’s order on Tuesday. Attorney for NBS, Pauline Chase, told reporters that the move on Tuesday by the court was “irregular.” She said that it is usually a matter of courtesy of the counsel, in this case Arjoon’s lawyers, not to “do anything” during the period when an application is pending in the court, as she added that stay has been granted in part.

“There is an application pending in the court, so our position is that we ought to await the hearing and determination of the full bench of that matter before the levy is executed,” Chase said. She said that professional courtesy dictates that the courts “ought not to proceed” with the levy.

Security guard arrested
As the afternoon progressed, the customers who were wrongfully held in the bank were allowed to leave via a back entrance. Later, the police and attorneys entered the bank and after discussions, three security guards were arrested; two employed by the bank and another attached to the Professional Guard Service.

Staff members of the NBS, many of whom appeared tired, relieved and traumatised by the events of the day were also allowed to leave the bank’s premises. Arjoon’s daughter Gina, who was also allowed to leave the bank during the afternoon, told reporters that no one can imagine “the pain my parents have gone through for the past 10 and a half years.”

She said the payment represents a step in a process which the family is proceeding with in the courts, noting that the payment on Tuesday was a “small victory,” for her family. Joseph Allen, a reporter attached to NewsSource, was also among the persons who were held against their will inside the bank. He provided a detailed account of his experience, in which he noted no hostility was made by bank staff towards anyone.

However, two men who were also caught up in the melee told reporters after they were allowed to leave the bank that they were told by bank guards that they would have to remain in the bank indefinitely. The men seemed relieved after they were released.

Last July, after more than six years of legal battle, Arjoon was expected to be compensated by the bank for wrongful dismissal by the then Bharrat Jagdeo-led government. The former CEO had sued the financial institution back in 2011 for wrongful dismissal in 2007. He was fired after being accused of conspiring with two others to defraud NBS of $69M – a case which went to trial and was subsequently dismissed. The money reportedly belonged to one Bibi Khan.

The other two accused were the then Assistant Mortgage Manager Kissoon Baldeo, and Operations Manager, Kent Vincent. Initially, a decision was expected to be handed down by High Court Judge, Justice Brassington Reynolds on November 29, 2016. After that time had elapsed, July 10, 2017 was announced to be the new date for a ruling.

That deadline was also missed. The court ruled that month that the former NBS boss had been wrongfully dismissed by the then PPP-government and is entitled to his pension and other benefits, which were snatched from him. Justice Reynolds awarded Arjoon a total of $79,282,801 after ruling that he was entitled to recover all benefits that were lost as a result of the dismissal.

In more recent developments, the NBS lost in its attempt to stay the $79M judgment made in Arjoon’s favour. Judge Rishi Persaud held back $20M of the original $79M judgment handed down last year by Justice Reynolds.