How Bank Managers Defrauded Customers’ N15bn — NDIC

August 11, 2019

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How Bank Managers, Officials Defrauded Customers’ N15bn — NDIC

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has accused bank managers, supervisors and other officials of defrauding customers to the tune of N15.15 billion in 2018.

The body added that these officials were involved in at least 119 fraud and forgery cases in banks which led to the loss of the said amount..

It also said that the number of temporary staff involved in fraud and forgery cases had consistently been on the increase.

The NDIC which made the revelation in its 2018 annual report released during the week explained that a total of 899 bank workers were involved in frauds and forgery cases in 2018 compared with the 320 reported in 2017. It called on deposit money banks and regulators to address the problem of contract/temporary staff in terms of welfare and permanent employment in view of the risk their current status poses to banks operations

It noted that 37,817 fraud cases were reported in 2018 against the 26,182 in 2017, adding that the amount involved stood at N38.93bn in 2018 compared to N12.01bn in 2017.

The report, however, showed that the actual amount lost to fraud incidences in 2018 stood at N15.15bn as against the N2.37bn and N2.40bn in 2017 and 2016 respectively.

The Report reads in part:

“The rising fraud incidences could be attributed to the increase in the sophistication of fraud related techniques such as hacking and cybercrime as well as increase in information technology related products and usage, fraudulent withdrawals and unauthorised credit.

“The channels and instruments through which the reported frauds and forgeries were perpetrated indicated that the Internet and technology-based sources of fraud had the highest frequency, accounting for 59.2 per cent of fraud cases and 42.83 per cent of the actual total loss suffered.

“A total of 899 staff were involved in frauds and forgery cases in 2018 compared with 320 in 2017. The number of temporary staff involved in fraud was 394, accounting for 43.83 per cent of the total number of staff involved in frauds. This was followed by Officers and Executive Assistants’ cadre with 206 or 22.91 per cent. Supervisors and managers accounted for 119 or 13.24 per cent of the total fraud cases. Banks should strengthen their internal controls.”