Former New Building Society (NBS) Manager Maurice Arjoon on Thursday said that he and nine other persons were authorised to sign cheques for the withdrawal of large sums of money, during his testimony in the $500M lawsuit he has filed against the society for wrongful dismissal.
Arjoon and two other managers were dismissed after $69 million was discovered missing from the account of Bibi Khan. The trio and several others were charged in the matter but they were later freed after Khan failed to attend court hearings.
Led in evidence by his lead attorney, Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo, Arjoon testified that he was interdicted from duty before being dismissed on June 12, 2007. He then proceeded to list the different positions within the NBS at the time of his dismissal.
He said that at the top was the Board of Directors, followed by the CEO Director Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Operations Manager (at the time it was Kent Vincent), Mortgage Manager, supervisors and branch managers and the counter staff, cashiers, account clerks, messengers and drivers.
Vincent, he explained, was responsible for the savings department and all aspects of savings, including deposits of cash and cheques.
Arjoon said that Vincent, who was also responsible for signing cheques on behalf of the society, interacted with the public while he rarely did.
He told the court that he had been given copies of the society’s rules and he later acknowledged a copy that was shown to him and which he said was given to him in June 2005.
He read specific rules which dealt with removal from office. He stated that his letter of dismissal was signed by the then acting NBS chairman Nanda Gopaul.
He stated that during his employment, he was furnished with a copy of the society’s system manual by the then CEO. A copy of the manual was later tendered.
Arjoon said that prior to his dismissal, Omar Rajubir was one of four supervisors who was authorised to sign cheques valued up to one million dollars. He said that this employee, who had 22 years experience at NBS, “absconded from the country” but he could not say if any arrest warrants were issued for him.
Cheques valued more than one million dollars, he explained, required the signatures of two of the four senior managers. The managers, according to Arjoon, were himself, Vincent, Kissoon Baldeo, and Nizam Mohammed, who was the then Assistant Secretary). Six executive directors of the company were also authorised to sign cheques on behalf of the society.
He then proceeded to explain the signing process.
According to Arjoon, during his employment, which began on December 11, 1977, he was aware of members making a withdrawal through a power of attorney. He told the court that this was a permissible practice.
He took the court through the procedure for such a transaction, from the completion of a withdrawal form to thorough examination of an index card to compare signatures and ensuring that the power of attorney is registered in the Deeds Registry.
He said that the society’s system, practices and customs require that contact be made with the principal for confirmation of the withdrawal. “I don’t think that this is in the systems manual or the NBS rules,” he said.
Meanwhile, when hearing resumed before Justice Brassington Reynolds, Luckhoo said that he had filed a summons for the Secretary of NBS to produce certain documents and asked for an update on the situation.
Senior Counsel Aston Chase, who is representing NBS, informed the court that according to the summons, the Secretary was to attend court on Thursday’s date and produce certain documents. He said that the minutes of two meetings have been requested but maintained his position that the minutes are confidential business which ought not to be made public.
Chase said that he has extracted the parts of the minutes that are related to the court case and that is what would be made available.
Luckhoo then pointed out that the summons also related to a number of documents and Chase had not indicated whether the Secretary had brought them.
Asked for a comment on the other documents, Chase indicated that such copies of those documents will be made available and that certain documents did not emanate from the NBS and as a result it cannot be asked to produce them.
Luckhoo appeared to be dissatisfied with the response and he said that “the fact that the document does not emanate from or is not produced by NBS is irrelevant.”
The case continues on December 10.
