CHARLES MENSAH ANSU v. NOBLE DREAM FINANCIAL SERVICES
2015
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HER LADYSHIP ANGELINA MENSAH-HOMIAH (MRS.) JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT
Areas of Law
- Banking and Finance Law
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence Law
- Contract Law
2015
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Plaintiff sought to recover his invested retirement benefits plus interest from Defendant who denied any dealings with Plaintiff. Defendant's counsel did not attend trial, hence Plaintiff was allowed to prove his case. Plaintiff provided evidence of his investment and reinvestments. The court determined Plaintiff was a customer under the legal definition and was entitled to his claim, including interest due to the lack of justification by Defendant for withholding the funds. Various legal principles on burden of proof in civil suits, definition of a customer, and award of interest were reaffirmed.
JUDGMENT
In this action, the Plaintiff seeks to recover an amount of fifty-five thousand two Hundred and Fifty Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 55, 250,000.00) from the Defendant, the interest thereon and any other order that this court may deem fit.
The Plaintiff's case is that sometime in July 2013, he invested his retirement benefits with the
Defendant and reinvested same twice on the maturity date of 14th April, 2014. He sought to withdraw his investment with the accrued interest at the last maturity date but the Defendant has refused to accede to his request.
As to be expected, the Defendant put up its usual defence that the Plaintiff has never been its customer and there has never been any dealings between them. The Defendant denied owing the Plaintiff.
This court has to determine three issues set for the trial as follows:
Whether or not the Plaintiff is a customer of the Defendant Financial Institution?
Whether or not the Plaintiff invested GH¢55,250.00 in the Defendant's Institution?
Whether or not the Plaintiff is entitled to his claim?
Counsel for the Defendant was in Court on 04/03/2015 when directions were given for the commencement of the trial. He failed to show up in court and a hearing notice was subsequently served on him on through his secretary by name Osei Joseph on 12/05/2015 for the June 15th trial.
Again, both Counsel and the representative of the Defendant were absent even though they had at least one month notice of the trial. The Court had no option than to proceed to hear the Plaintiff's case under Order 36rule 1 (2) (a) of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004, C.I. 47. It reads:
Rule (1) (2)
where an action is called for trial and a party fails to attend, the trial judge may:
(a) Where the Plaintiff attends and the Defendant fails to attend, dismiss the counterclaim, if any, and allow the Plaintiff to prove the claim.
In this case, the Defendant did not have any counterclaim and so the Plaintiff was given the opportunity to prove his case .His testimony was concise. According to the Plaintiff, he invested the sum of GH¢ 50,000.00 with the Defendant on 09/07/2013 for a period of 91 days. Interest due was paid on two occasions and in each case, he rolled over the principal amount. In support of this oral evidence, he tendered the certificate of investment and the deposit slip as exhibits A and A2. Finally, he prayed the Court to assist him to recover the principal amount and the accrued interest to date.
There are a host of