Golden Key liabilities top Rs. 30 billion

by Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Ceylinco Golden Key Credit Card Company is yet to divulge actual position of their overseas depositors. With proper accounting, Company’s total liabilities to the depositors would pass the Rs. 30 billion mark. The capital debt by Golden Key Credit Card to their customers was earlier estimated to be Rs. 26 billion.

Unlike the Company’s local depositors, most of the foreign customers estimated to be over 2,000 do not collect their interest monthly and their interests were being accumulated to the capital. “We estimate that this would total up to over Rs. 2 billion,” said Convener and Treasurer of the Ceylinco Golden Key Depositors Committee, Dushanthi Hapugoda.

“This is an area that was not talked about before and we are now in the process of highlighting this and taking legal action so that this amount too would be added to the liabilities of the Company,” she said.

She also said that they are totally against the company policy of settling the depositors by deducting the interest paid to them. “If a person had deposited Rs. one million and Company had paid Rs. 100, 000 as interest, the Golden Key would be only refunding Rs. 900, 000 to that customer. We are totally against this as according to this calculation depositors will now have to pay the Golden Key Credit Card Company and not vice versa in some instances,”, she explained. She emphasised that the company Chairman, Lalith Kotalawela had earlier assured that their dues would be paid back with interest. “However, he has now gone back on his word,” she said. However, she said that the depositors are in agreement to accept their deposits minus the interests from November last year. “What we want is our capital,” they said.

The company settlement plan is to initially clear up customers with less than one million deposits and pay 75 percent of the dues to depositors between Rs. One to two million. Remaining customers would only be paid after selling Golden Key Credit Card Company assets.

She also disclosed that the company had many unwanted overheads which led to this scenario. “The Deputy Chairman, Mrs. Kotalawela while drawing a salary of Rs. 2,500, 000 was paid an allowance in the excess of Rs. 4.5 million according to papers forwarded to the courts. In addition many Charity funds, donations and other expenses each month accounted to over Rs. 3.5 million,” she disclosed.

She also said that they were threatened at the last Court hearing day in Mount Lavinia by security persons in uniform and they are now talking with their lawyers as to what could be done. Meanwhile another customer who had deposited Rs. 1.7 million in December said that her deposit has not been accounted for. It has not being included in the list that was forwarded to the court,” she said.

When contacted an official of the Golden Key Credit Card Company said that the dues to the customers would be settled soon. “There were 9,054 depositors and we have already settled 3, 000,” the company official said.