Hawks probe FNB

THE HAWKS have lodged an investigation into allegations of discrimination against black bondholders at FNB. But the bank has denied doing anything wrong.

It is alleged that when Saambou went bankrupt 10 years ago, thousands of clients were incorporated into FNB and some of them were bondholders. Saambou's system made black bondholders pay more than their white counterparts and this was allegedly not rectified when clients were incorporated into FNB.

Yesterday a docket was opened to investigate allegations of discrimination and fraud against the bank. Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela said: "We received a complaint from a Mr Van Zyl who has been working with people who were incorporated from Saambou. We have opened a docket, but have not started investigating yet. "He alleges fraud and discrimination. We will speak to Van Zyl and take it from there. He alleges that there were tens of thousands of people who were incorporated from Saambou when it went bankrupt, but 6000 of those were black people who were charged more than the rest. As a result some of them have lost their houses," the spokesman said.

But Marius Marais, chief executive of FNB housing finance, said the allegations of racial bias and fraud against FNB are unsubstantiated and have no factual basis. "FNB's core value is one of equality and fairness both to our customers and employees. The bank strongly rejects any allegations of racism. FNB has long sought a judicial outcome to terminate the speculation and false allegations. Trial dates have been set and then postponed by the plaintiff," he said.

Marais said FNB had taken every step to rectify the errors inherited from Saambou. "The bank will welcome any investigation by the Hawks and will offer every cooperation to the investigators. We have not yet received any communication from the Hawks, but we are seeking an urgent meeting with them to address any issues they wish to investigate," Marais said.

According to FNB the bank recalculated the acquired Saambou accounts based on a set of carefully considered principles, and in June 2006 offered a R154-million refund to Saambou customers. "Notwithstanding the unprecedented steps that FNB took in respect of Saambou customers, some individuals with a vested interest continued to pursue allegations related to Saambou's method of interest calculation," Marais said. "FNB has publicly stated that it welcomes legal finality on these matters and actively pursued a trial date that was scheduled in the North Gauteng High Court in November 2011. "The case was delayed at the request of the plaintiff and eventually deferred to a later date. As a result the bank was awarded full costs associated with the delay," Marais said.

Source: The Sowetan