A young man has narrated his ordeal a the premises of Stanbic Bank Ghana Silver Towers where he was arrested on what was later revealed to be a mistaken identity after being detained for more than 24 hours.
The young man name withheld who narrated his ordeal revealed he had gone to the bank to withdraw his last money, a Ghc100 when bank staff told him to wait as his account had been frozen.
After what appeared like a long wait, he saw police approach him with bank staff accusing him of being behind the illegal withdrawal of some Ghc4,800 from a customer’s account.
As at the time of his arrest no one had told him anything about the reason for his arrest. He was taken to the police station and his statement taken although he had no idea why.
He was locked up for 24 hours after which he managed to get a lawyer to bail him out. It was then that he was told of the Ghc4,800 illegal withdrawal and that it was a mistake, bank staff said.
He was offered Ghc1,000 as compensation.
After his social media post, Stanbic Bank promptly offered to look into the matter and resolve it amicably.
The bank described his experience as “unacceptable and unfortunate” and promised to investigate and resolve it.
“Sorry for this rather unfortunate and unacceptable situation you described. We would be grateful if you could assist us with details via inbox to enable us to investigate immediately. Thank you.” A verified Stanbic reply said.
Read the full post:
Dear TIA, kindly assist me on what to do.
I went to the ATM machine to withdraw my last ₵100 but could not so I decided to go to the Stanbic Bank Ghana (that’s my bank) banking Hall to do the withdrawal.
When I got there, the teller told me that my account has been frozen so I should wait.
About 5mins later, two staff of @stanbic Bank Ghana came with police officers to arrest me.
At that time, I didn’t know what was going on but I was taken to the Police station. I wrote my statement as I have written above and was put in a cell after.
I still didn’t know what I had done but I stayed in the cell for more than 24hrs.
Later I was permitted to call a friend and she came with a lawyer to bail me. As at that time, no @stanbic bank official had told me anything.
I went to work and I was told by my boss that Stanbic Bank says I have used my account to withdraw ₵4,800 from their client which was never true.
Later, my boss gave me a lawyer and we sent them a letter.
That was when an employee of @stanbic bank told me they were sorry and it was a mistake.
The guy offered to pay ₵1000 as the lawyer’s fee and I said no.
Unfortunately, the lawyer told me before we could pursue the case, I have to pay ₵3,000 and some court charges but I couldn’t afford that.
@stanbic bank has also decided not to mind me but I am left in a state of dilemma.
I want TIA members to help me make a decision. Personally, I wish to sue the bank but the lawyers are expensive. Or I should forgive?
