Choice Bank Pension Holders Demand Money From Sagicor

Twenty-five former employees of Choice Bank Limited are demanding that Sagicor Life Insurance return their money. Choice Bank went belly up after it announced liquidity issues in April of this year. The Central Bank pulled its international banking license two days after Choice Bank announced that depositors will be able to withdraw up to seventy-five thousands U.S. dollars from their accounts. Foreign account holders were affected and so have the former employees. The employees were paying up to five percent of their salary at the end of each pay cycle as part of a pension plan with Sagicor. Some employees who had worked years at Choice Bank have thousands of dollars saved under the pension plan, but after the bank folded, they are having trouble getting their monies. According to Brian Stypul and Adrian Arana, they have contacted Sagicor multiple times, but believe they are being given the round-a-around. 

Brian Stypul

Brian Stypul, Former Chief Operating Officer, Choice Bank Ltd. 

“Sagicor was notified officially and from there, in August, it’s been a game of kind of run around and just not clear answers to our questions or proper actions taken.”

Adrian Arana, Former Chief Compliance Officer, Choice Bank Ltd.

“Initially we communicated with Sagicor requesting that the windup take place as my colleagues has said. At that point they gave us certain steps that would be taken, the main one being that an actuary report would be created and then they will be able to take further steps to pay out the funds to employees. However that hasn’t taken place as yet. We have had a number of communications with them and it seems that they have been delaying the process. We have also communicated with the regulator. They are also seeking additional information and clarity in order to approve the payment by Sagicor.”

Adrian Arana

Brian Stypul

“The unfortunate events that transpired for Choice Bank as everybody knows locally was the license was suspended and therefore almost all employees have been terminated. So the pension plan monies is a total separate event that definitely can be helping out everybody. It just delay tactics as far as we can tell. Unavailability when everybody calls the officer for the responses, people are in a meeting. Certain steps do get completed and all of a sudden there are other events that come up and there is delay, delay, delay. It is just to the point where you figure, concerns of we went through liquidity problems. Is Sagicor facing the same thing? I don’t know. But the response has not been anywhere what it should be from a professional company that is holding people’s money. And the sum of money involved? The sum of money…I don’t what to get in particulars but believe me on an individual level, this money is crucial. It can be a hundred dollars a person but it is much more than that. Every dollar could help out so many people now that are unemployed.”