Chairman: “Everybody will get every penny back”
ELEUTHERA, BAHAMAS — Hundreds of Eleuthera residents are awaiting cheques of compensation for funds they put into the One Eleuthera Credit Union before the cooperative went into liquidation early last year.
The fund had some 780 members at the time of the closure, according to an executive from the One Eleuthera Credit Union, who told Eyewitness News “everybody will get every penny back”.
Since then, many of its members have been unable to access their funds.
One member Mishka Kerr said he has some $10,000 locked away in the credit union with payout cheques promised from November, and then December of 2022.
He told Eyewitness News he was concerned that they have not gotten any clarity on when exactly they will get their money back.
“A load of Eleuthera persons had some monies in there and they can’t touch their monies and it’s been almost a year now,” Kerr said.
Kerr is a business owner and oversees a charity, Catch Jerry Child Foundation, that the money in his One Eleuthera Credit Union account was earmarked for.
He said he felt as though he wasn’t making any progress after reaching out to affiliated authorities on the matter.
“They keep promising,” Kerr said.
“I had almost 10 thousand dollars in the bank and I need to get it to the persons that I’m supposed to give it to.
“[…] and right now that 10 thousand dollars is supposed to go to the Emergency Fire Services, I don’t think they’ve been doing any fundraising for a while and I know they really, really need it.”
Another Eleuthera resident who had an account with the cooperative, Tracy Williams, said that he has been communicating with a representative from the One Eleuthera Credit Union over the past several months, who had assured him just a few days ago that members will be receiving the money in short order.
“A friend of mine who works up in Rock Sound, she say they have already prepared the cheque a few days ago,” he continued.
“[…] When it first started I started up and everything, put my money there just to get a loan. I was trying to get a loan from them.
“When they closed down, that’s when my money get mixed up right inside there, eight months ago.”
Chairman of the One Eleuthera Credit Union, Errol McPhee said that he has been in communication with the overseer since last year when the liquidation took place.
“The membership, they agreed to voluntarily close the credit union because we couldn’t meet the capital that we needed to meet at that particular time and as a result of that, we had to go through a process or procedure, we had to choose a liquidator.
“And the Bahamas Cooperate Credit Union League, which is the head of all cooperate credit unions in the Bahamas they are our liquidators and it has been turned over to them.”
McPhee said that he keeps abreast of the status of the cheques as he and the Bahamas Cooperative League’s general manager have been communicating.
He added that he plans to speak with her about the issue again on Wednesday.
“We communicate regularly on a daily basis and we’ve got to a point where we are in the process of getting ready to issue cheques.
“[…] We had to bring in an external auditor to come in to examine the books just a couple of months ago and they had to verify and we had to write to each member…like I told people I will call her to find out exactly the situation and we were instructed to start writing up the cheques you know. We can’t issue cheques until we get permission from the liquidators and that’s the status of it.”
McPhee explained that he understands that people may be nervous about getting their funds back but assures that once due process is undertaken, everyone who is owed will receive their cheques.
“Everybody will get every penny back but it’s a process you have to go through, I know some people need their monies and I agree but it’s a process and that’s the process we’re in right now.”
The seven-year-old credit union is a partner with the One Eleuthera Foundation (OEF) in South Eleuthera.
In a written statement, OEF noted that despite the foundation supporting the credit union, both organizations are separate entities that operate independently of one another.
“The One Eleuthera Cooperative Credit Union Ltd. is not owned or operated by OEF but is a “core partner” that is governed and managed by an independent board and management team.
“OEF was instrumental in the launch of OECCUL in 2016 and has provided support and technical assistance over the years,” it continued,
“We are saddened by OECCUL’s closure but continue to believe in the concept of community banking, local ownership, and its mission to provide key banking services to the island while reaching underbanked people and communities,” the statement read.
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