Some former staff of the defunct Gold Coast Fund Management have bemoaned their inability to access their provident fund (Tier 3) from Pentrust Limited.

This, they said has rendered them financially unstable to the extent that they cannot cater for the needs of their families.

According to the former staff, the situation has aggravated as their marriages are collapsing because they are financially handicapped.

In a press statement copied to GhanaWeb, the Ex Gold Coast Fund Management staff noted that “our inability to pay our rents, feed our families and most importantly take care of our wives and children which has led to the dissolutions of marriages and loss of respect in our homes. We are suffering”.

They, therefore, called on the National Pension Regulatory Authority to look into the matter for them to receive their due.

“We, the ex-staff of Gold Coast Fund Management, wishes to bring to the notice of National Pension Regulatory Authority, NPRA and Government about the deliberate attempts by our pension administrator, Pentrust Limited and Board of Trustees’s not to pay our full Provident Fund (Tier 3) contributions”.

“Since November 2019, several attempts to get our Provident Fund paid to us have proven futile. The fund administrator has utterly failed to honour our demands. Therefore, we deem it very urgent and necessary to notify the National Pension Regulatory Authority, the regulator of Pentrust Ltd, and Government about these developments and the plight of the ex-staff”.

Read the full statement copied to GhanaWeb below:

DELAY OF PROVIDENT FUND PAYMENT -
(EX-STAFF OF GOLD COAST FUND MANAGEMENT)

23RD NOVEMBER, 2020

PRESS RELEASE

We, the ex-staff of Gold Coast Fund Management, wishes to bring to the notice of National Pension Regulatory Authority, NPRA and Government about the deliberate attempts by our pension administrator, Pentrust Limited and Board of Trustees’s not to pay our full Provident Fund (Tier 3) contributions.

Since November 2019, several attempts to get our Provident Fund paid to us have proven futile. The fund administrator has utterly failed to honour our demands.

Therefore, we deem it very urgent and necessary to notify the National Pension
Regulatory Authority, the regulator of Pentrust Ltd, and Government about these developments and the plight of the ex-staff.

It is very sad to note that these deliberate attempts by Pentrust Limited and Trustees, to deny ex-staff their provident fund contribution has brought a lot of suffering and financial burden on us.

These include inability to pay our rents, feed our families and most importantly take care of our wives and children which has led to the dissolutions of marriages and loss of respect in our homes. In fact, we are suffering.

Our checks indicate Pentrust Limited and The Trustees transferred our Provident Fund money from the custodian bank, The Republic Bank to GN Savings and Loans. As of now, our money is locked with the receiver, Mr Eric Nana Nipah.
This simply means that,

1. Pentrust Limited and the Board of Trustee borrowed our money to the Employer, without our knowledge and without following the due process. An act which is against the pensions regulations.

2 . Our employer invested our money with different name, that is, GN/ Gold Coast Trustee. Due to this error by the Trustees, the receiver said they are investigating the transaction.

Therefore, the Association of Ex-Staff of Gold Coast Fund Management Ltd respectfully callson the NPRA, the regulator and The President, His Excellency Nana Akuffo-Addo, as a matter of urgency, to intervene and help in the payment of our provident fund to alleviate our long sufferings.

We know the President being a listening and compassionate, will help us during this difficult time.

Thank you