Operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission on Friday discovered N258m stashed in the vault at the Sterling bank headquarters in Abuja.
The discovery was during one of the commission’s operations to ensure that commercial banks obey the Central Bank of Nigeria’s on the distribution of new naira notes to customers.
The spokesperson for the anti-graft agency, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, indicated this in a statement obtained by The PUNCH on Tuesday.
Ogugua noted that when the ICPC monitoring team visited the bank and discovered the stashed new naira notes in the bank’s vault, it was told that the money was the remnant of what the CBN gave the bank for onward distribution to its branches.
She said, “The team however found out that only N5m each was distributed to their various branches. Both the regional and service managers were arrested and later granted administrative bail while investigation continues.’’
In a similar vein, the commission arrested the Head of Operations, Keystone Bank, Mararaba in Nasarawa State, for frustrating its customers from getting the new notes.
The ICPC team, while on its routine operation, found out that the Automated Teller Machines at the branch were not dispensing money to its customers and other bank customers were accessing only N1000 note.
Ogugua added that 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 N5000 to non-customers and N10,000 to its customers.
The team also arrested a security guard with Zenith Bank, 3rd Avenue Gwarimpa, one Abdulkareem Shaibu, Ali Adam and Shafiu Umar.
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