Golden Key depositors should not panic

by Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

Depositors of the now defunct Golden Key Credit Card Company (GKCCC) are sceptical about the delay in receiving the full repayment of their deposits.

When contacted the Head of the Committee of Chartered Accountants, Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala said the repayment schedule is going ahead as planned according to money available and the sale of assets would take time due to the elections.

He said, the investors are waiting for the government to stabilize after the elections as we have now reached the final payment of the first round.

“We have progressed in the sale of assets and repayment would continue once political stability is restored in the country”, he said.

“Most of the collapsed finance companies in Sri Lanka and world over have not made any repayments”, Prof. Watawala said.

Depositors of large sums of money are nervous about the progress of the repayment program due to the time gap that prevailed since the last disbursement made last month.

Deposits to the tune of around Rs. 26 billion was mismanaged by the GKCCC until the matter came to light in mid 2008 with the crisis erupting in the country’s financial establishment triggering a wave of panic among depositors of the Seylan Bank an entity of the Ceylinco Group.

A committee comprising Chartered Accountants was formed last year following the mediation of the Supreme Court to commence the repayment of deposits.

“The basis of the repayment was to pay all depositors equally but to start with the small deposits. A start was made and as a result most depositors received a minimum of Rs. 100,000 or 75 percent of the deposit whichever was lower”, he said.

The Committee was able to formulate a scheme whereby the repayments have progressed to the satisfaction of most depositors and assistance to the Supreme Court.

The payments made so far are up to Rs. 1 million for 2,167 depositors, Rs. 1 to 2.5 million for 2,118 depositors, Rs. 2.5 to 5 million payments are being made now and would be completed by the end of the month. The total payments will be for 5,567 depositors amounting to Rs. 549,751,772.

The balance payments for those over Rs. 5 million amounting to Rs. 126,000,000 for 1,260 depositors will be made thereafter.

Prof. Watawala said some depositors have not confirmed their balances and an advertisement has been placed for them to furnish details with the documents.

“The Committee hopes to seek the assistance of the directors of the Golden Key who have been released to realise the maximum return to depositors”, he said.