Golden Key depositors see ray of hope

CB to handle repayment 

By Charumini de Silva

The depositors of the Golden Key Credit Card Company (GKCCL) were offered a ray of hope as Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake assured them that the Central Bank would take over the task of repaying 40% of their total investment. 

The Minister said that the depositors agreed to withdraw all 29 court cases they had filed against Golden Key and its directors during discussions held with Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and other Finance Ministry officials yesterday.

“We have come as a facilitator to ensure that they are provided the relief that they have been longing for. We will give our assurance of repaying the depositors in writing to court on 18 May, where all cases will be withdrawn and from there onwards it is the Central Bank that will be dealing on behalf of the depositors,” he told a news conference after a meeting with hundreds of depositors who had flocked to the Finance Ministry yesterday.

Elaborating his point, he said that a committee consisting of 15 members representing depositors, led by the Central Bank Governor, would be established. He stated that all further costs, until the matter was fully resolved, would be borne by the Central Bank. 

The Central Bank Governor will have a management team with an auditor that will go after every single conceivable asset, therefore any benefit they find more than what was agreed in the Supreme Court, will be passed on to depositors, he said. “There is not a single benefit that will be taken by the Central Bank,” the Minister expressed.

Karunanayake said from 18 May, no sooner that the cases were withdrawn, the depositors would be repaid. Those who had deposits less than Rs. 2 million would be paid in less than one month, while those who had deposits of Rs. 10 million are to be paid in less than two months. The balance would be paid in less than one year. 

The Minister also said that there was a subsequent suggestion that all the depositors would be paid Rs. 1 million which would be looked at and agree upon going forward. 

“I want to ensure the media and all of you that this process is protected and worked through as this is the only way that these innocent depositors will get as much as they can after this financial scam,” he noted.