The Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN) has alleged a commercial retailing bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) of unsolicited account openings for individuals. The group added that the bank has ran foul of data breaches and fake profit declaration.
According to GICN, the allegations were deduced from report of a private investigation into the bank’s activities which revealed corrupt practices that runs counter to the Central Bank Bank (CBN) of Nigeria’s operational guidelines.
REPORTERS AT LARGE earlier reported the case of one of the victims of the unsolicited account openings who got a text message from the GTB, which was sited by our correspondent; “Dear customer, a savings account: 08xxxxxx00 has been opened for you. Please, pay into this account to activate it, N1,000 plus VAT applies for your new debit card.”
Edward Omaga, Esq. President, Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN), who made the disclosure on Friday at a press conference in Abuja said “the bank was said to have been involved in the alleged unscrupulous, unethical and criminal activities without recourse to corporate governance standard which forbade any form of manipulation or surreptitious reasons.”
He further disclosed that the private investigation relied on relevant provisions in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to investigate the many infractions of GTB.
Part of the report he said read: “The PIR is compiled pursuant to Section 24 (d) and (e) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) read together with our Objective No. 2. As stakeholders in the task of nation building.
“Our members have a duty to make positive and useful contribution to the advancement, progress and wellbeing of the community where they reside. Furthermore, we are duty-bound to render assistance to appropriate and lawful agencies in the maintenance of law and order.
“While we discharge the above duties, there is a corresponding obligation on the part of government based on Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution (supra) to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.
“The Bank has Ordinary Shares of 25 Billion with 8 Active Directors but its only Shareholder and Person With Significant Control is Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, represented by Segun Julius Agbaje.
“In the United Kingdom, Segun Julius Agbaje started the Bank by registering same at the Companies House as Rainsouth Limited with Number 5969821 on 8th December, 2006. The said Rainsouth Limited went through various changes until it became Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Limited on 17 March, 2008.
“One of the corrupt practices recently linked to Guaranty Trust Bank Limited in Nigeria has to do with Unsolicited Accounts Opening.
“This is a situation where a customer did not approach the Bank or show any interest in maintaining an account with the Bank. Yet, the Bank goes ahead to source for the customer’s information such as telephone number, date of birth, Bank Verification Number (BVN) and other vital details to open account for the customer without his/her consent.
“The aim of this practice is to increase the customer base of the Bank, thereby giving it high ranking in terms of size, capacity and profitability.
“We submit that Unsolicited Accounts Opening tantamount to breach of data privacy, identity theft and can expose the innocent account holders to lots of financial crimes.
“As at today, there are over 10,000 customers in the database of Guaranty Trust Bank Limited who are already exposed to grave danger without their knowledge. Some of these customers have threatened to sue the Bank.
“We have equally uncovered that Guaranty Trust Bank Limited has been declaring profits that do not reflect its actual financial performance.
“For instance, GTCO PIc on 11” September, 2024 released its Audited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the period ended 30 June, 2024, to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) wherein the whooping sum of #1.004 Trillion was declared as Profit Before Tax.
“This caused the Group to be reported all over media as “the first Nigerian financial institution to cross the #1 Trillion mark in profit.”
“It is our finding that these figures as contained in the Audited Statements are mere conjectures hurriedly put together by Segun Julius Agbaje and his team to deceive the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), customers/investors and the general public into believing that all is well with GTB.”
