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Corrupt bank staff are largely behind fraud schemes, expert says
A licensed banker, Mr. Patrick Abankwa noted that the statistics on bank fraud in Ghana are high, a situation which does not speak well for the sector.
He therefore demanded that all bank employees be subject to the ethics of the profession, so that, if they are punished for such crimes, they cannot move from one bank to another.
He wants these personnel to be totally banned from the industry.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) reported that 56% of fraud incidents reported in 2020 indicated involvement of staff from reporting institutions, up from 51% of staff involvement reported in 2019.
This may be a consequence of the lack of corporate governance structures in some sections of the banking sector, resulting in a lack of accountability and transparency in their operations, the central bank said.
He added that deposit removal accounted for 73.3% of all fraud incidents reported in 2020 and 76.8% of all fraud incidents reported in 2019.
The crackdown recorded the highest rate of staff participation. 78.6% of all cash deletion cases reported in 2020 indicated staff involvement.
The Bank of Ghana recorded a total of 2,608 fraud incidents, compared to 2,311 fraud cases reported in 2019, an increase of 12.9% year-on-year.
Banks and specialized deposit-taking institutions regulated by the Bank of Ghana are required to submit fraud reports as they register fraud incidents, as well as a “null report” if they do not register any. incident at the end of a given month.
The year 2020 recorded a total of 2,670 fraud declarations, against 2,311 fraud declarations filed in 2019, which represents a 15.5% year-on-year increase in the number of fraud declarations submitted to the Bank. Many types of fraud saw increases in 2020.
The most significant types of fraud recorded in 2020, in terms of impact and / or loss for the banking sector are: fraudulent withdrawals; Electronic money fraud; ATM / POS fraud
Fraudulent withdrawals recorded the highest rate of increase during the year under review. Fraudulent withdrawals increased from 16 cases in 2019 to 177 cases in 2020, an increase of 1,006.3%.
Electronic money fraud also recorded 64 cases in 2020, compared to 14 cases recorded in 2019, an increase of 357.1% year-on-year. ATM / POS fraud recorded 168 cases in 2020, compared to 110 cases recorded in 2019, an increase of 52.7% in terms of year on year.
Speaking about this development in an interview with TV3, Mr. Patrick Abankwa said: “What banks should do as a form of training is that staff adhere to the recently launched Ghanaian Bank Code of Ethics, so that when a staff member is punished, the staff does not just move from bank to bank but the person is banned from the entire industry.
He further noted that the increase in fraud cases “raises a lot of questions, which represents a huge leap forward.”
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