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By Our Reporter
A Spain based, Nigerian man, Olasele Anthony, is literally crying from the roof top about how Polaris Bank restricted his account after declaring him dead.
Anthony said the commercial bank froze his bank account by placing a Post No Debit (PND) on it in an attempt to allegedly steal millions of naira from him.
Narrating his ordeal to SaharaReporters, Anthony said he suspected foul play after his account with the bank became inactive and he was unable to carry out any transaction.
He said he contacted the bank and was told the bank was acting on a court order informing the bank that he was dead.
“On February 3, I saw my account was inactive/dormant. I contacted Polaris Bank, filled out every form required and been in weekly communication with agents/staff since then.
“Last week, when they ran out of excuses, they said I am legally a dead person.
Polaris Bank is saying they have a court order from an Abuja court since March saying I am dead and a PND was placed on my account,” Anthony said.
He further said that all efforts to get a copy of the court order from the bank had not been successful.
According to him, the bank has refused to furnish him with the legal document.
Anthony added, “My requests here are simple: Polaris Bank should send me a copy of the court order from Abuja saying I am dead and a hold (PND) should be placed on my account so I can go to the same court and show proof of life or lift the inactive status on my account.
“I want to see my own death certificate that was used to obtain the court order but Polaris Bank staff are not availing me of any of these.”
He questioned the refusal of the bank to give him the court document saying, “How do I know which court to approach with Proof of Life without knowing where I was legally declared dead?”
Anthony said that a legal complaint had been written and submitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Polaris Bank to demand full details of what happened and for the PND placed on his account to be lifted.
While reacting to the development,
Polaris Bank in a statement made available to NATIONAL WAVES expressed dismay at the resort to misleading social media posts by Anthony Olasele in spite of efforts by the Bank 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, “Further to our earlier post, we wish to reiterate the following.Polaris Bank 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 Widower 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 16th. 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 in the statement.
