By Babalola Seyi
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has verified the finding of N258 million at a bank’s Abuja headquarters.
The operation was part of an effort to persuade the institutions to comply with a directive issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the issuance of redesigned naira notes.
According to a Tuesday night statement, an ICPC monitoring team visited the bank and discovered fresh notes in the vault.
The cash was a portion of what the CBN had already transferred to the headquarters for distribution.
A preliminary inquiry indicated that each branch received only N5 million.
The Regional and Service managers were detained and released on administrative bail while the investigation is ongoing.
In addition, the ICPC detained the Head of Operations of a bank in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, for aggravating clients looking for replacement notes.
The branch’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were not dispensing cash to clients, and others could only obtain N1,000.
After the official’s arrest, the machine was adjusted and started dispensing N5,000 to non-customers and N10,000 to customers.
On 3rd Avenue in Gwarinpa, a bank security guard, Abdulkareem Shaibu was caught with five ATM cards used to withdraw money for unknown persons.
Ali Adam and Shafiu Umar were similarly nabbed at 1st Avenue in Gwarinpa while selling denominations of the naira.
