MICHAEL KALASHIAN and VITA KALASHIAN
2nd floor, Unit 2-J EDT Bldg.
Puso ng Baguio,
Session Rd., Baguio City
MR. JASPER DELA CRUZ
Legal Officer
Metrobank
Metrobank Plaza
Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati
13, September 2007
Dear Mr. dela Cruz:
We received your letter dated 07 September 2007 on 11 September 2007 and the registered copy today. We regret to inform you that we cannot accept your invitation for a meeting tomorrow on such a short notice. Moreover, there is no need for us to travel to Manila, since we are still waiting for the results of your investigation as promised to us in your our initial meeting.
Our initial reaction to your letter is disheartening after all the work we put into providing you extensive documentation, where we were made to believe that an honest-to-goodness investigation of our case would be undertaken, and especially after so many extensions were given to you at request. After months all we get is a list of questions, the answers to which should have been addressed by the recent audit conducted to investigate the issues. We are struck by the total absence of any results of your internal investigation and that not one of our issues in our original letter to your bank was addressed?
You ask us, who opened the unauthorized accounts? This in itself seems to highlight that there is something terribly wrong with your banking records. Why in the world would you be asking us after all these years? If there was any doubt on the part of the bank, wouldn’t this have been investigated long ago? You need to be tell us, not us telling you. Have you lost the signature cards?
You ask us why we furnished you with photocopies as supporting documents and are asking for us to produce the originals. Except for the paid checks, isn't your bank the keeper of all original posting media as well as requests for transfers and documentations for ALL transactions?
You are asking us our basis for the tables we furnished you and provide with them. What is going on? You promised a thorough internal investigation. What did you discover? If you discover that our information is incorrect, then you need to provide us with correct information. You ask us also to provide that our accounts were debited. Is it not pretty obvious that our basis are the bank statements that Metro provided us, which you can always ask your EDP or which ever department within your bank maintains records to reproduce them for you. Again, there is something terribly wrong with Metro Bank if you are not in possession of ALL this information. Why are you asking your banking customer? Do you do this to all your customers? Don’t tell me you have not done an internal audit after all this time that has passed? You should be telling us, what is the results of your audit? Do they differ in any significant way? What is going on? These bank statements will easily show you whether our accounts were debited or not without asking us to prove so; unless you doubt your own records?
Again you ask us to discuss the deviations we are referring to. Are you not in a better position to tell us whether there was deviation from your policies or not because that is exactly what we are asking you to explain to us. Why would we present you this information, if you are not going to verify anything? What do your records show? Would these matters not have been threshed out by the audit of the subject accounts you claimed to have been conducted? However, if you really want us to assist you on this, please provide us with your Branch Manual of Operations so we can see for ourselves and tell you whether there were deviations or not.
As for the originals of the checks as well as other documents you requested, we know Metro has microfilms to refer to, since we were asked to pay a fee to get the same information. Again, taking so long to do your investigation, how could you not have this information, since it has been more then two (2) months since we first met? Besides, we have to be honest with you, from your recent letter, and all the past wrong doings, we would not entrust Metro Bank with any of our originals. We will only surrender them to the appropriate government agencies responsible for the regulation and over see of your Bank.
Frankly, we are shocked, appalled and deeply insulted that instead of receiving even the slightest bit of information with regard to all the issues raised in our initial letter, never mind even an acknowledgement of any wrong doing or an apology for whatever these issues may have caused us. Instead, we receive a letter from you asking us to prove our claims, which is exactly what you promised us you were going to do, and trying to make it appear that we are simply making up things.
In addition, where is the additional information regarding our accounts that we have requested from over a year ago and why were all our accounts closed?
What is it in our information that we provided to you, that you deny did not occur? Does Metro Bank believe that the bank broke no internal policy procedures or external banking regulations? You have all the information to determine this. It would be laughable if you needed your customer to determine this by providing documentation the bank has, or should have, in its possession.
It appears we naively thought that by presenting Metro bank with the facts first, Metro Bank would make an effort to make “right” what has been done to us, but it is blatantly obvious that you have not taken any of our issues seriously, so we will have to pursue alternatives.
___________________ _____________________
VITA N. KALASHIAN MICHAEL KALASHIAN
PS
Please find attached a list of all your Branches worldwide. Let us know if there are any others not on this list? As a grievanced customer of your Bank, we think all regulatory agencies in those countries Metro has branches or partners, should have a copy of the same documents provided to you, even if not originals, for all to see how sloppy your bank practices are when it comes to protecting foriegn clients money. |
