Heritage Bank Plc, SaharaReporters has learnt, is a ghost that its management is desperately trying to give the appearance of a virile financial institution. Sources in the bank told SaharaReporters that the management has been borrowing
money to pay salaries since September 2016, after gouging the bank through a variety of abuses that included theft of physical cash and award of contracts at grotesquely inflated sums.The Managing Director, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, said a source, illegally stole physical cash and in foreign currencies under the guise of foreign exchange transfers. The source warned depositors to endeavor to recover their deposits before the bank finally goes bust.
One of the tricks employed by the management to give the bank an appearance of solidity, disclosed another source, was the recruitment of a former MultiChoice top gun. The management, the source added, also sold one of the bank’s properties on Femi Pearse Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, to attain a measure of liquidity. The proceeds from the sale were used to pay the rent of the bank’s offices at Ajose Adeogun and Moshood Olugbani streets, both on Victoria Island, Lagos.
“What sensibly-run business sells assets to pay for rent?” asked the source.
The management, SaharaReporters also gathered, is currently sacking staff suspected to have leaked the story of the bank’s parlous state to this website. The sack exercise, which is being carried out in batches, is targeted at staff considered disloyal to the bank. One of the affected staff told SaharaReporters that the conduct of the management advertises itself as more disloyal to the bank than the staff being relieved of their jobs. He added that the story was widely suspected to have been leaked by an executive director, who was also forced to resign in November.
