…directors say marshals came in like ‘thieves in the night’

THREE officials from the New Building Society (NBS) were on Wednesday charged with wrongful confinement proceedings beyond certain circumlocutory limits (that is to say out of the building).

Deka Tularam, Anil Kishun and Anil Beharry appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore before whom the charges were read to them for confining eight persons from leaving the bank on January 23, 2008.

All three of the accused denied the allegations. Members of the public were not allowed inside the courtroom while the matter was being presided over.
Those allegedly held against their will were: Shawn Kalicharan, Alex Green, Goodish Singh, Patrick Higgins, Martin Brown, Jire Arjune, Ganesh Herah and Joseph Allen.

Given the obvious fear and the absence of a court order, the bank’s management said it took a decision to safeguard their money while allowing customers an opportunity to leave the bank through one of its entrances. “The NBS at no time prevented persons from leaving the office and in an effort to ensure the safety of cash, there was some inconvenience,” the statement said.

However, some persons who were locked in told reporters that they were prevented from leaving the bank’s premises for about two hours by officials of the institution. The bank contends that due to the lack of a court order, “the management took the right decision to protect the interest of the Society, its staff and customers.”

The board of directors stated that the marshals and others came in unidentified like ‘thieves in the night’” and in an unprofessional manner that resulted in panic, chaos and misunderstanding. This notwithstanding, the bank said should it be “properly served with any instrument or order of the court” it would readily comply with the said instructions.

On Jan 4, 2018, the NBS as well as the other appellants, including Trust Company (Guyana) Limited received a court order directing that the sum of $59,033,281be paid over to Maurice Arjoon. That sum represented the former NBS CEO’s pension benefits. “This benefit should have been paid from the Pension Scheme funds held by the Trust Company (Guyana) Limited, assuming it was the final award,” NBS stated.

The decision of the High Court was appealed on January 9, 2018 and a request was made for the Court of Appeal to set aside the order. Deliberations are yet to begin at the Court of Appeal on the matter.

The three NBS officials pleaded not guilty to the eight charges and were released on self-bail. The matter was transferred to Magistrate Dylon Bess for March 26. 2018.