Victor Ezeja
Polaris Bank Plc has denied involvement in any plot to defraud one of its customers, named Anthony Olasele.
Mr Olasele had in a series of tweets, accused the Polaris Bank of declaring him dead, despite being alive, saying it was an attempt to gain access to his deposits held in the Bank.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelHe said he has been restricted from having access to his account.
The Bank placed a Post No Debit (PND) on Olasele’s account following a court document it received which purportedly claimed that he is dead.
READ ALSO: You Are Legally Dead – Polaris Bank Allegedly Tells Customer, Prevents Him From Accessing Account
The commercial bank, however, expressed dismay at the resort to misleading social media posts by Mr Olasele, in spite of efforts so far to treat his protest.
In a bid to clarify the misunderstanding on the customer’s account, the management of the bank said in a statement that it “did not declare the customer dead, but was in receipt of court documents stating so, and the Bank in such circumstance, has a duty to respect such documents so as to protect the customer deposit.
“Recall that the said court papers including: Bank Certificate (dated May 2, 2023); Statutory Affidavit of Next of Kin issued by Probate Registry of a High Court of Justice, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and together with a death Certificate issued by National Population Commission (NPC), Abuja Municipal Area Council were presented to the Bank on May 11, 2023 by one Olasele Tina AKA Tina Olasele who claims to be a Widow of the ‘deceased’ customer, Anthony Olasele.
“The Bank had, following from this information, immediately flagged the account of the Customer pending the conclusion of the issuance of the Letters of Administration. We have also confirmed the said Bank Certificate was genuinely obtained from the Court.”
According to the statement,”Processing of Letters of Administration is purely a family affair without any input whatsoever on the part of the Bank or its staff. It is therefore expected that the Customer, who currently claims to reside in Spain investigate members of his family with the name of Olasele Tina AKA Tina Olasele (the person that processed the above referred papers from Court).”
It added that, “Following from the customer protest and confirmation by the Bank that the customer is indeed alive, the Bank has availed his lawyer the documents since May 16 2023.
“The primary concern of Polaris Bank is to always protect the customers’ funds first. We are working closely with all stakeholders, including security agencies and the customer, to expedite the process. Once the process is completed, satisfactorily, the Bank will lift the PND, and the customer will access his funds. That is the statutory process.
“Preliminary findings from internal investigation launched into the Customer’s claim of collusion to defraud him has so far revealed otherwise.
“We kindly advise the customer Mr Anthony Olasele, family, friends and social media agents to allow the process to be completed,” the Bank said.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
