By Kefiloe Kajane
This week a local bank Lesotho Post Bank denied allegations that they have defrauded a pensioner an amount of M169 000 in money withdrawals.
The allegations were made in an article by a local news outlet which the bank said not are not true reports and unfounded.
Explaining its side of the story Lesotho Post Bank’s managing director Molefi Leqhaoe said the institution received a complaint from their customer, Andreas Mateyisi on April 15 2021.
He said the complaint followed the bank’s complaints procedure as prescribed by the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) as a regulator of all banks.
He further explained that the complaint referred to related to cash withdrawal of M4 000. He said the bank investigated the complaint and found that indeed the customer’s funds amounting to M4 000 were withdrawn by one of the staff members who worked as a teller at Mapholaneng branch.
“The bank refunded the customer and took disciplinary action against the teller who was later dismissed in May 2021. Subsequent to the complaint, the bank received correspondence from CBL stating that Mateyisi alleged that cash was withdrawn from his account from 2008 to 2021 amounting to M169 000on or around June 22.
“However, this complaint did not follow the bank’s procedure. That is, the bank did not receive any complaint from the customer relating to cash withdrawals amounting to M169 000. It suffices to say the customer did not give the bank a chance to investigate and deal with the complaint but rather decided to lodge the matter with the CBL and media. Nonetheless, the bank decided to investigate the allegations, and it was unveiled that all the cash withdrawals vouchers in our possession were signed by the customer. Therefore, on that basis the transactions were initiated by the customer.
Leqhaoe said it is surprising that the customer alleges his funds were withdrawn since 2008 yet he has never reported the matter to the bank or the police. He however said that the bank has reported the matter to the police to further investigate customer’s allegations.
He said the bank’s management wished to reassure its customers and the public at large that it continues to operate as regulated by the CBL and that customers’ funds are safe.
He indicated that the bank has policies and procedures in place to address customers’ complaints and queries. The customers are encouraged to approach the bank whenever they have complaints.
