Contractor Threatens To Sue FNBB

Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday November 23, 2020 17:15

MPH director, Reggie Mabiza is accusing the bank of fraudulently deducting just under P700,000 claiming it was legal fees and intends to take the matter to court. The bank has since denied any wrongdoing.

According to Mabiza, he had issues with the bank over his overdraft facility and when he started paying the debt back, he started noticing huge amounts which would be deducted by the bank anytime of the month referenced as legal fees in some instances and legal charges in others.

“It has come to our attention that you unlawfully debited, on diverse dates, the total sums of P319,110.62 from account number 62027021659 and P360,396.79 from account 3000001707331, under Mabiza Plant Hire (PTY) LTD alleged to be legal fees or costs. We have not been advised on how such sums deducted as legal costs have been arrived at or to which matter(s) do they pertain to. It is my understanding that costs are awarded in terms of a Court Order must be taxed before they become due and payable. However, we have not received any taxed bill of costs nor were we served with same purposes of taxation.

As a result, we demand that our accounts, as aforesaid, be credited with all unlawfully debited legal costs or fees within three days of receipt of this letter. Failure of which we shall take appropriate steps to recover same,” Mabiza wrote in his initial letter to FNBB in August.

Mabiza would then write to the Banking Ombudsman appealing his case and that the bank has not being responsive to his queries. The Banking Ombudsman has since responded to him stating that FNBB explained that the fees were due to the Bank and that he was responsible for getting the court costs taxed.

FNBB Marketing and PR manager, Boga Chilinde Masebu said the Bank is aware of the complaint that came through the Banking adjudicator, alleging that money was unlawfully deducted.

“The Bank can confirm that it has not been deducting legal fees without the client’s consent.

The agreement signed between the Bank and the customer makes clear provision that the client is liable for all legal costs and expenses incurred by the Bank in the process of recovery of any funds advanced to the customer. The amounts were informed by the invoices presented resulting from the actions to recover the debt,” she said.

Chilinde Masebu assured customers that FNBB adheres to the Treating Customers Fairly Principles Act and does not carry out any unlawful deductions from customers’ accounts and therefore customers do not need to have such concerns.