Cheque honoured – lawyer

$59M settlement

…NBS denies move to block cashing

The New Building Society (NBS) is denying that it had reportedly moved to block litigant Maurice Arjoon from cashing the $59 million cheque it had made out to him on Tuesday. According to the Society, the money was made available.
In correspondence seeking to clarify its statement, the Society has affirmed that reports appearing in the media about the transaction being blocked are “untrue and scandalous”. The Society is therefore calling for a retraction of those reports. =
Contacted by this publication, Arjoon’s legal representative, Attorney-at-Law

The scene outside the NBS during Tuesday’s lockdown

Sanjeev Datadin, related that as far as he was aware, the cheque was honoured and his client did not experience any further hurdles.
Following Tuesday’s drama, during which customers and other officials were locked in the Society’s building, the NBS issued a three-page statement on Wednesday, announcing that it would be taking steps to “safeguard the sum”, since it was only issued “to avoid confrontation.”
The Society has also denied unlawfully detaining customers, court marshals and a Police officer on Tuesday, claiming that its personnel had thought a robbery was in progress. The financial institution claimed that members of the Guyana Police Force subsequently informed management that the men were court marshals executing a levy.
“Assuming that they were correct to levy for the pension benefits, this payment ought to have been made from the Pension Scheme Funds, and not (from) the NBS’ assets. The Society will therefore seek to redress this illegal and improper conduct of Mr Arjoon’s representatives, his lawyers and the marshals,” the Society noted.
The NBS management also outlined that the dismissal of Arjoon and two other senior officers from the employ of the NBS had nothing to do with the Berbice Bridge or the intervention of any Government official at that time. They added that the Society’s investment in the Berbice Bridge is a very lucrative one, and the decision to invest therein has been proven to be a correct one.
Arjoon, a former Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, took that financial institution to court in 2011 for his outstanding pension and other benefits. Arjoon had originally sued the lending agency for some $550 million in damages.
High Court Judge Justice Brassington Reynolds subsequently ruled in the dismissed CEO’s favour, awarding him more than $79 million in outstanding payments and benefits. The court also ruled that he should be paid a monthly pension of $372,498.
The Judge further had ordered that the former CEO should receive financial compensation for the damages he had suffered; and moreover, that he was entitled to his pension and severance benefits, in accordance with provisions stipulated in the laws of Guyana.