“Yesterday, @PolarisBankLtd did something that really broke my heart. [It] broke my heart so bad that I cried all day and didn’t sleep all night.”

Those were the words of Onofue Victoria Ife-Michael after Polaris Bank refused to release a £2,500 refund from Roehampton University to her.

Ife-Michael had paid the money as tuition deposit via a third party account to the university in 2022 as part of the requirements for her conditional admission. The school later told her that its intake was full, so she couldn’t get in.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Ife-Michael said she subsequently applied to the university for a refund and had to open a domiciliary account with Polaris Bank to enable her receive the money.

Yesterday, @PolarisBankLtd did something that really broke my heart. Broke my heart so bad that I cried all day and didn't sleep all night. In June 2022, i got into Roehampton university, London and was required to pay a tuition deposit of £2,500 before I could sit for the precas

— Ife-Michael (@V_ifemichael) November 29, 2023

But since Roehampton University sent the money to her newly opened Polaris Bank account in November 2023, Ife-Michael has been unable to access it due to some policy issues.

Polaris Bank called her on Tuesday to tell her that the money would be returned to the school because she did not send the pounds directly from her account originally.

With her bank’s proposed decision, she has no idea if she will ever get her money back if it is returned to the school, considering the challenges she encountered in the process of filing for a refund.

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IFE-MICHAEL’S STRUGGLES

FIJ understands that this lady would not have opened a domiciliary account with Polaris if the bank account with which she originally deposited the fees in 2022 was still functional.

At the time she deposited the money in 2022, she had to use someone else’s account because she had not opened a domiciliary account then. And due to the urgency of the payment, she sent the naira equivalent of the tuition deposit to a Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) account that sent money to a UK bank account. It was this UK account that sent pounds to the school on her behalf.

She said that she reached out to the school for a refund for the first time in November 2022 but it took the school eight months to respond to her.

When the school responded to her in July 2023, she was instructed to fill out a refund form. But the school later turned down her refund request.

Ife-Michael initiated another request the same month, but it was declined again through the school’s response sent two months later.

FIJ found a document on Roehampton University’s website, which states: “In line with UK anti-money laundering laws any fee paid will only be refunded to the person or body who paid the fee. Payment will be returned via the same method payment was received.”

This implies that the school could only refund Ife-Michael’s fees in the same account where she made the payment in 2022. An email sent by the university revealed that the school was unable to verify the account number using proof of payment.

It was only after the school declined her refund requests that she discovered the sender’s account was no longer available.

Ife-Michael’s post on X partly reads, “In line with their refund policy, I applied for a refund for the first time in November 2022. This would become the beginning of a long and difficult journey to get my money back.

“I wrote so many emails to the school and spent so much money on airtime to call them, there were weeks of total silence and no response from the school. Weeks I had to go through not knowing if I would get my money back or not. This singular experience really altered my life.

“Finally, in July 2023, 8 months after the first refund application, i got the first positive response from Roehampton(i say “positive” because i was told to fill a form for the refund, which i did, but in reality, the refund was declined) They couldn’t verify the account details.”

“I requested for a new form in July, and it took another two months to get the link from the school, again, it was declined. It was then a friend in the UK tried sending some pounds to the account and he discovered that the account wasn’t functioning anymore. I wasn’t aware because it wasn’t my personal bank account i paid the deposit (£) from.”

READ ALSO: N246,500 Sent to Polaris Bank 2 Months Ago Is Still Missing

Ife-Michael opened a domiciliary account at Polaris Bank in November 2023, and Roehampton agreed to pay into the new account after she had explained her predicament regarding the non-functional account number.

However, Polaris Bank has refused to release the money to her on the grounds that the initial transfer was not made from the bank.

“Fortunately, Roehampton agreed to pay into the account, and they did. It took 7 days, the money got in on Sunday, I didn’t even know it had gotten in because I received no alerts. Only to receive a call from @PolarisBankLtd yesterday (Tuesday) and was told that the money would have to be returned to the school because I didn’t send the pounds directly from my account originally,” Ife-Michael tweeted.

“I would like to know what kind of policy this is because if this money is returned to the school, I have no idea if I’ll ever get it out. Or how long it would take. So many people who are directly related to me have been affected by this because that money has it’s purpose especially at such a time when the economy isn’t friendly. Imagine the heartbreak and hurt this has caused. Is it abnormal to receive funds from a school even after providing all necessary documentation and information requested?”

When FIJ contacted Polaris Bank via a phone call on Wednesday, a customer care representative, who introduced herself as Josephine, said the bank would not be able to provide any information on the inquiry.

“We can’t give you any information concerning this. The owner of the account can give us a call so we can run a check and know what exactly it is. I will advise you to tell the owner of the account to give us a call so we can assist her and advise her further,” she said.

Meanwhile, some comments on the post made by Ife-Michael suggest that the bank’s decision to return the money to the UK school could be as a result of guidelines regarding international money transfers.

Sulaimon, an X user, said, “International money transfer guidelines are very strict now because of money laundry. And the Nigerian system takes it very seriously. Polaris bank could pay as much as N500million in fine for any skip up from your end.”

Olalekan Badmus, another X user, wrote, “I am so sorry for your ordeal, it’s painful but that is the AML [Anti-Money Laundering] policy of the commercial banks. The money can only be returned to the account it was sent from with the same currency too…”