Customer sues bank over account
Customer sues bank over account
JAKARTA (JP): A customer of Standard Chartered Bank has sued the bank for blocking her office account for no legal reason and, therefore, defaming her name and her office reputation.
Lawyer Rusdi Nurima said that Standard Chartered Bank has refused to disburse cheques worth Rp 978.8 million (US$424640) from his client, Yee Mei Mei of Dragon Bank International Ltd., of Vanatu, even though the account still contains Rp 1 billion.
According to the bank's chief executive, the objection to disburse the cheques "is merely based on considerations of prudence and is absolutely not intended to damage Yee Mei Mei's reputation nor to cause her any losses," said Nurima.
Replying in a letter dated Jan. 25 addressed to Nurima, the bank's executive, said that the matter was currently being discussed with Bank Indonesia, the central bank.
"Bank Indonesia recommended us to maintain for the time being a status-quo in respect of the account of Yee Mei Mei," said the bank's chief executive.
Yesterday, the Standard Chartered Bank refused to give any statement about progress on its consultation with Bank Indonesia.
"We are currently discussing the matter with Bank Indonesia and the Ministry of Finance, however, under the banking act, we are prohibited from disclosing information concerning the financial position and other aspects of our customers' affairs," Rina Djamal, a public relations executive of the bank, told The Jakarta Post.
According to lawyer Nurima, his client, Mei Mei, intended to open a joint venture project here.
Mei Mei operated the account on behalf of her company or Matsuyama, another executive of the company, Nurima said.
However, she become confused when the bank rejected her request to disburse a cheque worth Rp 8,850,000 on Jan. 19.
The bank said that the objection was conducted under the request of Bank Indonesia, Nurima said.
"But, the bank refused to show any official documents from the central bank," the lawyer said.
The same incident took place again three days later when Mei Mei intended to disburse two cheques worth Rp 4,952,800 and Rp 200 million respectively, Nurima said.
On the following day, the bank also rejected her request for disbursement of a cheque of Rp 15 million, the lawyer said.
The cases have been reported to the National Police Headquarters, the Central Jakarta District Court and the Minister of Finance. (bsr)