The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested the Branch Service Head of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Deidei Branch, Abuja and the Operation Manager of FCMB for alleged sabotage.
This was a continuation of the Commission’s clampdown on elements that were frustrating efforts to make the redesigned Naira notes available to the public.
The bank official, who is the Branch Service Head of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Deidei Branch, Abuja, was taken into custody for her deliberate refusal to upload cash into the branch’s Automated Teller Machines (ATM) even when the cash was available and people were queuing at the ATMs.
When the ICPC monitoring team stormed the bank at about 1:30pm to ensure compliance and demanded an explanation as to why all the ATMs were not dispensing cash, it was informed the branch’s Head of Operations that the bank just got delivery the cash.
However, facts available to the ICPC operatives indicated that the branch delivered the cash around 11:58am and either willfully or maliciously refused to feed the ATMs with the cash.
Against this backdrop, the ICPC team compelled the bank to load the ATMs with the redesigned Naira notes and ensured they were dispensing before arresting the culprit.
Investigations are ongoing, and the Commission will take appropriate actions as soon as they are concluded.
In a related development, the ICPC Compliance Team in Oshogbo has busted an FCMB in Osogbo, Osun State, where some ATMs were loaded with cash with their wrappers unremoved, thus preventing the cash from being dispensed. The Team, therefore, directed that the wrappers be removed and the cash appropriately loaded.
However, when a follow-up visit was undertaken the following day to ascertain the level of compliance, the Team discovered that one of the ATMs was still loaded with the wrappers unremoved.
The Operation Manager of the Bank was arrested and taken in for questioning.
Similarly, seven Point of Sale (POS) operators and a security guard were arrested during the ongoing exercise in Osun State for charging exorbitant commissions for cash. Investigations, however, revealed that they got the money from Filling Stations that collect new notes from fuel buyers, but they then resell the cash to the public at exorbitant rates.
The arrested persons are providing the Commission with information to assist investigations and bust any syndicates involved in hoarding or selling the redesigned notes.
