Golden Key depositors appeal to President that relief still far away
View(s):Disgruntled depositors of the Golden Key Credit Card Company (GK) have urged the government to direct the Central Bank (CB) to appoint a Depositors Representative Monitoring Committee (DRC) to assist the newly constituted Golden Key board of directors to carry out the re-payment action plan in a transparent and efficient manner.
Although the Supreme Court had directed the CB and the GK board to appoint this committee, no action has been taken towards this end, they alleged.
In a letter sent to the President recently, a new GK Women’s Depositors Joint Organisation says that no remedy was in sight for disgruntled depositors even under the new GK board.
They have brought to the notice of the president that depositors could be paid over 60 per cent of their deposits in cash by taking action to seize all assets of the former Ceylinco Chief Lalith Kotelawala, his wife Sicille Kotelawala and former directors of the company as the Court has already issued directives for this purpose.
Former GK All Depositors Association Secretary Malcolm De Silva told the Business Times that the former Ceylinco group has around 80 overseas companies in UK, USA, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Iceland, Seychelles, Mauritius and many other countries.
The value of all these assets exceeds Rs.26 billion and the capital of all depositors could be paid without pruning the amount to Rs.7.8 billion.
He added that the newly detected entities such as Sicille Kotelawala Trust, CIESOT (Pvt) Ltd and PICTET & CIE (a Swiss bank entity) have assets worth over Rs. 10 billion and 50 per cent of the total liabilities of the depositors could be paid from selling shares of these entities.
In the letter to the president under the signatures of Pushpa de Silva and Anurika Mendis, the GK Women Depositors has urged the president to make a recommendation to pay some money to depositors, before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year by selling assets so far recovered by GK task force. In a filing to Mount Lavinia Magistrate Court on February 8, 2009, Lalith Kotelawala had pledged to sell assets worth over Rs. 13.3 billion and to credit it to a special trust appointed with the consent of the court to make repayment for depositors. He has also given an undertaking to court that he will pay Rs. 50 million per month to the depositors.
Depositors are now of the view that his payment plan was much reasonable than the CB action plan which was introduced in concurrence with GK Depositors Associations where two of its office bearers are now holding GK director posts.
These two directors have completely forgotten their responsibility towards disgruntled depositors, they alleged.
Meanwhile according to a statement of the GK Special Purpose Vehicle, 1986 depositors were repaid more than Rs. 190 million and the rest, which amounts to Rs. 500 million is to be paid to the other depositors by March 31 under “Phase 3” of the new action plan.
(Bandula)