Aggrieved customers of ComAid Microfinance are calling for Government’s intervention to help them retrieve their locked up investments from the defunct Microfinance Company.
According to John Dawu, the leader of the Defrauded Customers of ComAid Microfinance, in November 2015, customers whose principal investments matured with an agreed interest of 15% for three months were not paid because the management of ComAid had told them the company had an issue in court litigating over the interest rate with its investment client – God is Love.
He said the company pleaded with them to hold on until the final determination of the matter before the court.
However, although the case between ComAid and God is Love has been settled, ComAid Microfinance has failed to pay their investments with its accompanying interest to them.
He indicated that the failure of the defunct financial institution to pay them have burdened them with some of them faces challenges with their families since they cannot provide for them.
He therefore called on the government to as a matter of urgency intervene to help them retrieve their locked up investment and save them the shame they have had to endure.
But speaking to A1 radio Morning Daybreak Upper East on Wednesday, Mr. Gariba confirmed the aggrieved customers invested with his company but was emphatic the company did not defraud its customers.
He explained that the investments of the customers were also invested with God is Love, a Sunyani-based microfinance company who operations the Bank of Ghana suspended hence the reason why they have been unable to refund their monies.
Below is the Full Statement:
COM-AID MICROFINANCE AND MR. GARIBA WE NEED OUR MONEY
We, the customers of Comaid Microfinance Limited, are appealing to the president of the republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufu Addo, to help us retrieve our money from the District Chief Executive of the Builsa South District, Honorable Daniel Kwame Gariba and his company. Mr. Daniel Kwame Gariba who is the director of the said company and supervises day-to-day activities of the company owes his customers millions of Ghana Cedis in the form of savings, investments, education funds and daily susu which he mobilized from unsuspecting customers and citizens.
We find Mr. Daniel Gariba’s conduct and refusal to settle us criminal based on the following;
- Firstly, the company in which Mr. Gariba claimed he invested our money and it was locked up was closed down before he collected the money. The Bank of Ghana suspended the operations of DKM, Diamond Winners, and God Is Love since May 2015. Yet Mr. Daniel Gariba is claiming that he has saved the money with God is Love microfinance in Sunyani. How was it possible that he could save in a company that was closed down by bank of Ghana?
- In November 2015 customers whose principal investments matured with an agreed interest of 15% for three months accrued were defaulted payment as per the receipt of the investment. We were told the company had an issue in court litigating over the interest rate with the investment clients and so, pleaded with us to hold on until final determination of the matter before courts.
- A background checks indicated that as of May 2015, he invested the monies he defaulted payment to customers but continue to run adverts on radio to collect more deposits from -customers up to December 2015 and beyond. The amount in litigation before the court per our checks was GH ₵ 222,000.00 which is far below the deposits collected from us after the case before the court. The question now is if Mr.Gariba knew he was already in court, why then continue to collect deposits over an investment that had already gone bad? It therefore stands to reason from a commonsensical approach that, all deposits collected after May 2015 to January 2016 and beyond when he was already in court could not have been part of the litigation before the courts as Mr. Gariba claimed.
- Gariba’s company has still not declared its operations bankrupt to the central bank and the regulator that could inform the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and government to liquidate his assets to pay off the customers he owes. He continuously holds himself and his company worthy of doing business while the people he has defrauded are suffering. We would like the President to ask Hon. Daniel Gariba, “Where is the money?” He has houses and other property in the Upper East region and other places. Why does he not want to dispose them off to settle his customers?
- We have also observed with great concern, the numerous time Mr. Daniel Gariba has denied on national television and other media that he does not owe his customers. The impact of his criminal behavior on the livelihoods of people he has defrauded is beyond description. If Mr. Gariba is not made to pay us our money immediately, we may record some suicide cases as many of those who borrowed their moneys from banks and other places to do their businesses are now paying through their noses.
- On the 22nd July 2016, we received text messages from his company (comaid) informing us that they obtained a consent judgment on the civil suit to retrieve the investment in the commercial court, Sunyani, adding that we shall be updated as soon as payment was received. Since then, till date, all efforts to reach Mr. Daniel Gariba (0209322612) and his regional branch manager 0203044098 on phone concerning the fate of our investments proved futile.
When we suspected the attempt by Mr. Daniel Kwame Gariba and his company to deny us our moneys, we took various diplomatic steps, including involving the police. Some individual sort legal redress from some courts which ruled against him to pay but he is yet to make any of such payments. We were getting the cooperation of the state attorney in retrieving the money but ever since Mr. Gariba became the DCE of Builsa District, the state attorney’s interest in the case has reduced so drastically. We suspect strongly, Mr. Gariba is using his current position as a DCE to twist the hand of justice by getting the state attorney to act in his favor which is unfortunate. But just recently, the state attorney told us that our case could not be heard until next year.
We, the Comaid defrauded customers, have decided to come together now and work collectively to retrieve our money. This is our first step of resolving this case and we will not relent on our efforts until we retrieve every pesewa of our investment and savings with him. The outcome of this step will determine our next line of action.
We are therefore, using this medium to make a passionate appeal to His Excellency the president to direct Mr. Daniel Kwame Gariba who is now the DCE of Builsa South to pay us our money. Just as Government intervened in the case of DKM and its customers, we also plead with government to call on Hon. Gariba and his company to pay us our money.
Thank you
By:Ngamebulam Stephen Chidozie/A1RADIOONLINE.COM/GHANA
