As part of ongoing efforts to ensure that commercial banks comply with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive on the distribution of the redesigned Naira note, operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) last week Friday discovered the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty-Eight Million Naira (N258m) stashed in the vault at the head office of Sterling Bank in Abuja.
This discovery followed one of the Commission’s operations to ensure that commercial banks and other interest groups do not flout the apex bank’s directives.
When the ICPC monitoring team visited the bank and discovered the new Naira notes stashed in its vault, they were informed that the cash was the remnant of what the CBN had given the bank for onward distribution to its branches.
The team, however, found out that only the sum of Five Million Naira (N5m) each was distributed to their various branches.
The regional and service managers were arrested and later granted administrative bail while the investigation continued.
Similarly, the Commission has arrested the Head of Operations, Keystone Bank, Mararaba, in Nasarawa State, for frustrating its customers at getting the new Naira notes.
While conducting its routine operation, the ICPC team discovered that the branch’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were not dispensing money to customers, while other bank customers could access only One Thousand Naira.
It was only after the arrest was made and clarification received from CBN that the position of the officers of the Bank was not correct, that the ATMs started dispensing Five Thousand Naira to non-customers and Ten Thousand Naira to its customers.
The team also arrested Abdulkareem Shaibu, a Security Guard with Zenith Bank, 3rd Avenue Gwarimpa, Ali Adam, and Shafiu Umar.
While Shaibu, the Security Guard, was arrested for having five ATM cards, which he was using to collect money for unknown persons who were not within the Bank’s premises at that time, Adam and Umar were arrested in front of Zenith Bank, 1st Avenue Gwarimpa, for selling the new Naira notes.
