Report Reveals 105 Bankers Linked To N59 Billion Fraud

Report Reveals 105 Bankers Linked To N59 Billion FraudThe Nigerian banking sector is grappling with a rise in fraudulent activities, as highlighted by findings from The PUNCH. An analysis of the Financial Institutions Training Centre’s report on “Fraud and Forgeries in Nigerian Banks” for the first half of this year revealed that at least 105 bank employees were implicated in fraudulent activities. This marks a 34.38% decrease from the 160 cases reported during the same period last year.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Despite the reduction in staff involvement, the total amount associated with these fraud cases skyrocketed by 380.13%, increasing from N12.33 billion in January to June 2023 to N59.2 billion in the same timeframe this year. Approximately 72.75% of the total fraudulent amount was lost this year.

The overall financial loss attributed to fraud surged dramatically, reaching N43.07 billion in the first half of 2024, compared to N6.26 billion in the same period in 2023—a staggering increase of 588.02%. The rising number of terminations due to fraud likely contributed to the decline in cases involving bank employees, with 84 staff members dismissed in H1 2024, a 223.08% increase from the 26 terminations in H1 2023. This suggests that around 80% of fraud cases involving bank employees resulted in job loss during the first half of this year.

In contrast, the involvement of outsiders in fraud cases saw a slight decline, dropping by 10.78% to 21,335 reported cases in H1 2024, down from 23,912 in the same period last year. Notably, outsiders accounted for 92.74% of all bank fraud cases between January and June 2024.

Fraud in the Nigerian banking sector remains prevalent across various channels. The most significant types of fraud reported were web-based fraud, ATM fraud, and fraud occurring at bank branches. Bank branch fraud accounted for the majority of losses, totaling N55.01 billion in H1 2024, a staggering 646.4% increase from N7.37 billion lost in the same period last year. Web-based fraud followed with N1.87 billion, while ATM fraud amounted to N43.1 million.

The high incidence of fraud among bank employees persists despite rising wage and salary expenses, as some banks are contending with high inflation. Personnel expenses for ten banks surged by 96% in the first half of 2024, reaching N615.8 billion, up from N314.4 billion in H1 2023.

Among the banks, Access Holdings reported the highest wage bill at N151.5 billion, reflecting a 145% increase from N61.9 billion in H1 2023. First Bank followed with N134.2 billion in personnel expenses, a 110% rise from N63.9 billion year-on-year. UBA’s wage bill grew by 92% to N126.6 billion, while Zenith Bank’s increased by 64% to N63.5 billion. Stanbic IBTC’s wage expenses rose by 44% to N40.6 billion, and GT Bank’s personnel costs nearly doubled, reaching N39.3 billion, up from N19.9 billion in H1 2023. FCMB Group and Wema Bank also saw significant increases in their wage bills, rising by 74% and 77%, respectively.

For more information on this article and other related posts from Bushradiogist, please join our WhatsApp channel by clicking this link https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaUumOODTkK7AZL1Fw3o. For advertisement inquiries only, kindly send a message to 090 1907 0863 on WhatsApp.