By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nearly 70 per cent of financial crimes in Nigeria have the involvement of banks, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has claimed.
“Broadly speaking, banking fraud in Nigeria is both inside and outside related.
“The inside related fraud comprises outright selling of customers’ deposits, authorising loan facilities, forgery and several other kinds of unhealthy and criminal practices,” the chairman of EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede, said while speaking at the Annual Retreat and General Meeting of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria held in Abuja.
The EFCC boss, represented by the agency’s Director of Internal Audit, Mr Idowu Apejoye, feared that the banking sector was becoming notorious for fraudulent activities, noting that something must be urgently done to change this.
He said, “The outsider-related frauds in the sector include hacking, ATM fraud, and conspiracy, among others,” noting that more worrisome is the collaboration between “bankers and the outsiders.”
“That one is the one that is absurd because when you do that, that means you are selling out the system.
“It is estimated that about 70 per cent of financial crimes in Nigeria are traceable to the banking sector, this scenario is disturbing and unacceptable,” Mr Olukoyede stated.
He emphasised the importance of collaborative actions from relevant authorities and industry professionals, particularly audit executives, to proactively address and combat fraudulent activities within the sector.
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