The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, warned banks to ensure proper monitoring of their staffs in order to stem the increasing tide of insider abuse and compromise of confidentiality among bank staffs.
Magu, who stated this in Gombe, the Gombe State capital during an interactive session with regional compliance officers of commercial banks, was represented by the Gombe Zonal Head of the Commission, Michael Wetkas.
He reminded the bankers that banks are critical stakeholders in EFCC’s operations, noting that it was for the roles of banks that the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004 reserved some sections for financial institutions.
He expressed concern that there are saboteurs in the fight against corruption within the banking industry, stating that the actions of such saboteur bankers are unacceptable to the Commission, noting that some bank staffs were in the habit of going behind the Commission to notify customers whose accounts were placed on Post-No-Debit (frozen), aiding and abetting crime and obstructing the wheel of justice, instead of assisting the Commission as stipulated by law.
He urged banks to always do proper background checks before employing their staffs in order to avoid employing people with questionable characters. Similarly, Mr Magu cautioned banks to always activate the “Know Your Customer” (KYC) requirement by verifying the addresses of their customers before opening an account in order not to give room for fraudsters to open accounts for illicit or fraudulent transactions.
He strongly appealed to bankers to report any suspicious transaction as required by law, especially at this point in time when tenures of public office holders are about to come to an end.
The EFCC boss of the Anti-graft agency in Nigeria, Magu however, appreciated the cooperation his Commission was getting from the bankers while soliciting for more cooperation.