The Aggrieved Customers of Gold Coast Fund Management have urged the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to refrain from conditioning the payment of their locked-up funds on the outcome of any court case and to proceed with the disbursement.

This follows Mr. Ofori-Atta’s indication during the budget presentation on Wednesday that “a provision of GH¢4 billion has been made in the 2024 budget to address National Investment Bank (NIB) SDIs, and other outstanding legacy challenges in the Financial Sector.”

“Notwithstanding the ongoing litigation commenced by shareholders Blackshield Capital Management Limited (formerly Gold Coast Securities Limited), the SEC will continue to engage the Official Liquidator and the client of defunct Blackshield to reach a consensus on a framework for a bailout intervention and an amicable resolution of the impasse.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Aggrieved Customers of Gold Coast Fund Management explained that the pending litigations challenging the revocation of the operational license of Blackshield Capital Management Limited (Gold Coast Fund Management) did not legally impede the disbursement of the Parliamentary approved bailout package.

The group emphasized that there was no need for further frameworks that would deliberately prolong the already delayed payment of their locked-up funds, which had been almost six years.

“The Finance Ministry should proceed with the payment using the same bank accounts that were created in the names of individual beneficiaries at the various branches of GCB across the country for the payment of the Partial Bailout,” they added.

The group further urged the Finance Minister to clarify the significant ambiguity surrounding the statement captured in the budget.

“We emphatically state that even without considering the other mentioned institutions, namely NIB and SDIs, this allocation of GH¢4 billion is insufficient to pay the outstanding balances of the validated claims of Customers of Gold Coast Fund Management,” they added.

Citinewsroom