Bank Theft in Kenya: It appears that some bank employees have taken fraud to a new level. Apparently, four banks have had their employees nabbed and prosecuted for stealing customers’ cash.
According to a report that appears in a local daily known as The Star, a Diamond Trust Bank manager has been charged in Milimani with stealing Sh. 25 million from customers’ fixed deposit accounts.
This theft was perpetrated by Peter Sungu and was discovered through an internal reconciliation process.
“At Harambee Sacco, Habil Onyango, who is a front office services activities manager and strong room custodian, removed amounts totaling Sh. 1,783,392 from the vault and used it for personal purposes,” says the report. This money was meant for the sacco area delegates and miscellaneous expenditure.
“Police also reported that Family Bank Relations Officer Abel Onyango, through swapping SIM cards, accessed customers’ accounts and withdrew Sh. 1.5 million without their knowledge. He was also taken to court,” the report adds.
Another report in the Daily Nation says that four Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) employees suspected of stealing Sh. 72.6 million are set to face charges after they were arrested on August 17.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Mr Benson Mwai Karugu, Mr Edmund Kirturi Mutua, Mr Evans Kenda Kiplagat and Mr Macdonald Mochama Mongwe transferred the money in small amounts to accounts domiciled with various banks in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret and Malindi.
“Evidence gathered by the DCI indicates that 37 fictitious merchant companies were registered with KCB to facilitate the theft through fraudulent point of sale card (POS) transaction,” the report says.
It is alleged that the claims were approved by the four suspects and money sent to the companies’ account as POS card settlements.
The DCI further reports that the funds were later shared through M-Pesa among the four suspects.
Following these incidents, DCI boss George Kinoti told banks, mobile money service providers and regulators that many cases of fraud are by their employees. He advised them to do thorough background checks before engaging them in any way.