Within 11 months in office as the chief executive of Polaris Bank Limited, a smart employee has managed to steal a whopping N17 million under the watch of Kayode Lawal who was appointed earlier this year by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
There are strong indications that more fraud could still be discovered as the bank struggles to prove to customers that it has stabilized despite reports that it’s still on a shaky ground.
On January 10, 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, dissolved the board and management of Polaris Bank due to alleged mismanagement and corporate governance violations, and appointed Lawal as new Chief Executive.
Also, the apex bank had debunked reports that it was planning to withdraw Polaris Bank working license.
There are however suggestions in the sector that the bank is seriously troubled despite CBN’s efforts to protect it. Deep-seated in the Lawal-led commercial bank, analysts insist, is the problem of employee fraud which has been on the rise.
Two persons well informed in the EFCC told the magazine that crack detectives will soon be sent to look into the books of the lender following allegations that the bank may have provided cover for some employees perpetrating fraud.
The development followed the revelation by the EFCC that an employee stole N17 million belonging to customers of the bank under the pretext of a loan.
How did it happen? The revelation came recently after Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of an Ikeja Special Offences Court, remanded one Abiodun Sanni in the prison for allegedly stealing the money.
According to the information made available by the EFCC, Sanni had stolen the money using a phony company and false identification, Bamgbose Tayo Taofiq and Banut Haulage to grant himself a loan worth N17 million.
Sanni has denied committing the alleged crime raising serious posers on how this was allowed to happen, and whether other employees have escaped with depositors money.
Three sources in EFCC, familiar with the alleged fraud, said the commission is doing more to unearth other possible fraud in the bank.
“This particular case will possibly lead to other frauds in the ban” one of the sources said.
Sanni, according to the EFCC had on February 24, 2020, in Lagos, as the Bank Manager of the lju branch of Polaris Bank Limited, obtained credit in the form of a bank loan in the sum of N17 million, for Bamgbose Tayo Taofiq, trading under the name and style of Banut Haulage.
Obtaining the loan under false pretence, he provided false collateral in the form of a fixed deposit account number 0071572791 worth N111 million.
According to the fact of the case, the anti-graft agency arraigned Sanni on a 16-count charge bordering on obtaining credit by false pretenses, forgery, use of false documents and stealing.
The bank manager was also accused of dishonestly converting a Polaris Bank Limited’s fixed deposit account number 0071277522 worth over N15 million, belonging to Atolagbe Joshua Tinuoye.
In an earlier fraud case involving the bank, its staff member, Chinenye Duru stole close to N17 billion from a customer.
The fraud which he perpetrated within a period of eight years is now a subject of probe by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
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