Alpha Capital Savings and Loans has told Citi Business News that its disgruntled clients will receive their locked up investment in February, 2018.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is currently undertaking some due diligence at the company to assist customers of Alpha Capital Savings and Loans retrieve their investments.
The move comes after numerous complaints by the customers, over their failure to get their monies, despite reaching the agreed maturity dates.
Speaking to Citi Business News the Marketing and Corporate Communications Manager of Alpha Capital Savings and Loans, Ike Tandoh, expressed hope that the Bank of Ghana will complete its due diligence by the end of this month (January, 2018) to allow them pay their clients in February.
“We have been paying the small amounts like GH¢ 200 to GH¢ 1000. However, for those with huge investments like GH¢ 1,000,000, we’ve asked for a renegotiation of their maturity dates. Hopefully by the end of January, if the due diligence clearance is done by the Bank of Ghana, we should be able to pay people who’s investments have matured in the first week of February,” he said.
Mr. Tandoh explained that the challenge started after two branches (Tarkwa and Madina) out of its 8 branches faced liquidity problem.
Customers of Alpha Capital Savings and Loans are hoping they will be spared the experience of customers of DKM in 2015.
Recent debacles in microfinance industry
Thousands of customers of DKM Microfinance Company lost their investments running into millions of cedis after the central bank in 2015 suspended the operations of DKM for violating the Banking Act.
Though the central bank subsequently lifted the ban on the company’s operations, DKM was unable to pay its customers their locked up cash.
The liquidation process of DKM Microfinance later on established that 87,000 customers of the defunct company were entitled to receive GH¢ 352 million.
This was after financial consultant to the official liquidator, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), validated the company’s liability to pay 87,000 depositors.
The Ghanaian financial sector has been hit in recent times with investment and fund management scams, involving some fund management and micro-finance organizations.
This trend is not the first of its kind in Ghana as there have been pockets of such scams previously.
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By: Bobbie Osei/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
