Posted by The Guardian on
Some officials of the Abatete Community Bank in Idemili local government council of Anambra State may soon face legal action for defrauding the bank of millions of naira.
Some officials of the Abatete Community Bank in Idemili local government council of Anambra State may soon face legal action for defrauding the bank of millions of naira. The manager of the bank, Chief Kenneth Oguejiofor, said that the alleged fraud in the bank was still being investigated and that the culprits and collaborators would be accordingly dealt with legally. Oguejiofor, a former manager with Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, said that some members of the community had defaulted in the payment of their loans.
According to him, about N9 million belonging to the bank was trapped in one of the new generation banks. "There is no bank in the world that has no loan defaulters, not one and we are not an exception. Anyone owing this bank will not get away with it," he assured. The manager admitted that some external auditors had visited the bank and requested for customers' passbooks and ledgers and that the process was not unusual in the banking sector. Oguejiofor said that the absence of the bank's annual general meeting must have been responsible for the widespread rumour and allegations that the bank was having problems.
Reacting to the alleged fraud in the community bank, Chief Basil Igwealor, President-General of the Abatete Development Organisation, condemned the fraud in the bank and decried the failure of some members of the community to repay the loans granted to them by the bank.
He said that the community would cooperate with the management of the bank in bringing the loan defaulters to book.
One of the customers of the bank, Mr Francis Ezejiofor, said that the staff of the bank had contributed to the problem of the bank as most of the loans were given without collateral. He said that no dividends nor bonus had been paid to any of the shareholders since 1977. He blamed the bank management for the alleged fraud and collapse of what he described as the only "industry" in the community.
An investigation by a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed that since the news of the alleged fraud in the bank broke in May this year, the customers of the bank and the community had become jittery and apprehensive over the fate of their savings and deposit.
The development, according to the investigation, has resulted in huge withdrawals by the customers of the bank.