Anambra Seals Off 2 Banks

The Anambra State government yester­day sealed off two branches of
Union Homes Saving and Loan in Onitsha and Nnewi.

The action was an enforce­ment of the order of an Onit­sha High Court
issued on December 14, 2014.

A team of staff of Internal Revenue Service, led by the Head of
Enforcement Mr. Basil A. Onwuzulume ar­rived the Onitsha branch of the
bank at 11.30am yester­day and told the few staff of the bank on duty
to pack their things and leave, because he was there with his team to
effect an order of the court obtained against the bank for failure to
meet up with its tax obligations.

The bank was said to be owing remittance of its Pay As You Earn
deductions made from its staff between January 2002 and December 2007,
amounting to more than N450 million.

Soon after they moved out, Mr. Onwuzulume locked the entrances to the
bank and sealed off the gates to pre­vent movement in and out of
premises.

From there, the team drove to the office of the bank at Bank Road
Nnewi, where a similar action was carried out.

In answer to a question, Mr. Onwuzulume said the seal off of the two
branches of the bank was the climax of series of appeals and
interac­tions between the Internal Revenue Service, Anambra State and
the authorities of the bank over its tax evasion.

He explained that when all appeals to comply failed, his office went
to court and ob­tained court judgment since December 2014.

-TheSunNews