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By Tata Mbunwe
Following a report Mimi Mefo Info (MMI) made about a purported fraud at an Express Exchange point in Yaounde, Cameroon’s political capital on December 2, the company has refuted claims one month after a customer testified of being duped of FCFA 668,000.
On December 2, Ketu Jervis Monah, a customer of the company, said an Express Exchange cashier in Yaounde told him he could not withdraw FCFA 668,000 on grounds that the transaction had been opened elsewhere using his National Identity Card (ID), but he said he never withdrew the money elsewhere.
He had suspected fraud from the agency’s cashier who had first collected some of his essential information, delayed the transaction before complaining the said transaction was already open elsewhere.
Express Exchange company had, however, failed to comment on the information when MMI asked for their side of the story before publishing it on December 3.
In a recent release from the company’s Communication Department, Express Exchange confirms a transaction involving Jervis Ketu took place on December 2, with a cash withdrawal of FCFA 500,000, instead of 668,000 which Jervis claimed he was supposed to withdraw.
“Our Legal Department contacted about this publication conducted investigations to discover that, on December 3, 2020, around 10 a.m., a certain Mr Ketu Jervis Monah went to one of our agencies to request the withdrawal of a transaction reference 40619373 in the amount of 500,000 CFA francs, on presentation of a National Identity Card. The card was rejected for operating difficulty by our operator who asked him to come back with the valid copy.
“About an hour later, Mr Ketu Jervis Monah showed up with a valid passport document and consulting the transaction in the system revealed that this transaction was already open elsewhere or the money was already paid; hence a rejection of the payment request. The use of these documents therefore makes it possible to identify four factors which demonstrate the bad faith of Mr Ketu,” Express Exchange stated.
Express Exchange denies ever doing transaction with Jervis Monah
The finance company said they did not carry out any financial transaction on behalf of the said client who claims his money was withdrawn at another Express Exchange point using his ID.
The transaction was done on 2nd December 2020 and the money had been cashed out at a MoneyGram point through WAFACASH, not Express Exchange as the victim said, according to Express Exchange authorities.
“The complainant’s lack of quality:
Whether it is the issuer or the beneficiary, no party to the transaction has remitted money to EXPRESS EXCHANGE SA, no contract exists between EXPRESS EXCHANGE SA and the issuer or the beneficiary, EXPRESS EXCHANGE SA does not has made no payment, Mr KETU cannot ask for the return of what he has not given, nor the collection for the second time of what he has already received.”
They added that the money withdrawn was FCFA 500,000 instead of the 668,000 which Jervis claims he was supposed to collect.
Client insists he is yet to have access to the money
Mimi Mefo Info contacted Ketu Jervis Monah who maintains that efforts to get hold of the money have remained futile.
Following the fraud on his identity and money, Monah told MMI he had reported the issue to the police who opened up investigations.
But more than a month later, he says there is yet no sign he would have his money back anytime soon.
“But as I explained to you, I never visited Fona Tongolo until the sender told me that was where the money was withdrawn. Express Exchange Rond Point Express was the only agency I entered and my transaction details alongside personal information were received”.
“I wish to know if they have another proof I picked up any money myself because the manager of the company where the money was taken acknowledges never to have seen me,” Jervis Monah told Mimi Mefo Info.
© Mimi Mefo Info
