Sterling to microfinance bank: Show proof of N219m fixed deposit

The management of Sterling Bank says Ohha Microfinance Bank should provide records of the N219 million fixed deposit it claims to have made with it.

In a letter seen by TheCable, the bank said it had carried out a “comprehensive investigation of the alleged fixed deposit transactions” and found no records of the alleged transactions.

The Enugu microfinance bank, through its lawyers, had submitted a petition to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) requesting for a refund of its N219million fixed deposit.

It alleged that it made fixed deposits of N138.9 million and N80.13 million in its Sterling Bank accounts through Oliver Anidiobi, its account manager.

“At the maturity of the two fixed deposits on the 15th August 2017; and 19th October 2017, respectively, the management of Sterling Bank served our client new fixed deposit certificates, claiming that the investment has been rolled our automatically on maturity to another tenor of 90 days,” the petition read.

“This action of Sterling Bank prompted our client to write another letter dated 25th October 2017, to Sterling Bank requesting again that the bank terminates the fixed deposits and credit our client current account with the value.”

Responding to the claim, Festus Keyamo Chambers, the law firm acting on behalf of Sterling Bank, said Ohha Microfinance Bank itself could not provide proof of the said transaction.

“Your clients could not provide proof by way of a transfer instruction, cheque or investment directive to show that they parted with any consideration to warrant the issuance of the purported deposit certificates by the bank, which deposit certificates are a product of forgery,” the Sterling Bank’s lawyer said.

“We loathe to believe that your client would deliberately hand over cash of this magnitude to Mr Oliver Anidiobi without any proof of deposit.”

According to the February 13 letter, Anidiobi, which the microfinance bank allegedly gave the fixed deposit to, had been arrested for forgery and is currently under investigation.

Sterling Bank also said that Anidiobi was merely the account officer of the account and not the branch manager as claimed by the Enugu bank.