Monday, October 31, 2011

Ecobank Employee Dragged to Court for Fiddling Clients’ Accounts

Victoria Mendy, a former employee of Ecobank, was on Monday dragged to the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court, presided over by Magistrate Alagbe, for allegedly fiddling accounts and squandering funds of customers of the bank.

When the case was called for hearing, one Lamin Sanyang, who identified himself at the court as a resident of Lamin and works at Ecobank Gambia Limited head office on Kairaba Avenue as Head of Operations and Technology.

Mr Sanyang said the fraudulent act took place from 1 August 2010 to 17 January 2011.
He told the court that sometime in December 2010, a customer of the bank by the name Francis Hary Faye, complained that there were some unauthorised withdrawals from his account. “It was at this point that Mr Faye, Torres Sarr-Tupan - our legal person, and I had a meeting,” he said.


“At the meeting, Mr Faye told us that Victoria Mendy, our staff, visited his office and confessed that she was messing up with his (Mr Faye’s) account.” 

He said further that Mr Faye told Victoria that she was not the one that had messed up with his account but Ecobank. 

Mr Sanyang told the court: “It was at this stage I arranged to meet Victoria at Westfield branch and then interrogated her. The interrogation was documented and signed by Victoria and myself. This was on January 4, 2011 - if my memory serves me well.  The meeting was witnessed by the Westfield branch manager.”
The interrogation document was tendered at the court and marked as Exhibit A.

Continuing with his testimony, Mr Sanyang said:  “It was at that juncture that we were going to forward the case to the police but Victoria Mendy asked us to allow her to call her aunty. After 30 - 45 minutes, the aunty appeared with the husband and they confirmed that Victoria had reported herself to the family and the family was making arrangement to settle the issue by paying the money. We insisted that we were going to report the matter to the police, which we did that very day.”

Mr Sanyang told the court that prior to that they had a disciplinary meeting with Victoria Mendy and she confessed and accepted that she had done wrong.

“What is that,” asked police prosecutor chief inspector Darboe, who wanted to be clear about the crime committed by Victoria.  “That was moving funds from customers’ accounts in order to balance her teller tin,” Mr Sanyang responded.  “We asked her whether she knew that was not the normal practice of balancing teller tin and she replied in the affirmative but she said she was doing that to help move funds to somebody’s account so that the person could have enough money for visa application, but the person fraudulently withdrew the money.” 

He said Victoria was asked by the police to reveal the name of the person, and she disclosed that the person is called Alasan Sumareh. 

The police then arranged for Alasan Sumareh to meet them at the fraud squad office.  Later on, while at the fraud squad office, Mr Sumareh said Victoria asked him to do a favour of funding or replenishing her teller shortage.  However, Mr Sumareh was later exonerated by Victoria at the fraud squad office when she also confessed that Sumareh was actually helping her instead. 

“Then following that, we have been receiving series of complaints of the same nature as Mr Hary Faye’s and we also had complaint of deposit suppression which in simple terms means hiding moneys that were given to Victoria for deposit but she never deposited them,” Mr Sanyang explained.
“One example of those complainants came from Kanbeng Kaffo.  We had about 15 of this type of complaints; the last one was on 24th August 2011.”

Sanyang told the court that along the line, the internal auditor of the bank carried an investigation on Victoria’s transaction from 15 August 2010 to 6 January 2011.  The result of the investigation showed what Ecobank was liable for due to Victoria’s discrepancies, he said, adding that the audit was conducted by the former head of internal audit of the bank, Haruna John, who is no more with the bank.

He explained that Victoria’s case was reported to an agency called Toplink, who brought and recommended her to work for Ecobank.

“The audit report and a letter, prepared by myself through the HR department of the bank, were sent to Toplink,” Sanyang explained.

When asked how Kanbeng Kaffo lodged their complaint to the bank, he said the Kaffo went to the bank to deposit their funds but to their surprise the account was never opened even though they did give the opening cash of the account to the Ecobank Westfield branch, adding that it was indeed given to Victoria who told them the account would be opened later and the money would be deposited there.  “Unfortunately the account was never opened,” he said.

He continued: "Then we carried out an investigation by going through our normal withdrawal and deposit procedure and then it was proven beyond doubt that the customer never authorised any withdrawal of funds given to the bank, whilst funds were never deposited to the customer’s account. 

“For every single withdrawal it goes with a cheque or deposit ticket or authorised order from the account holder or signatories and in Victoria’s transaction, none of these were there.”

The report of the internal auditor, the letter to Toplink, the letter from Kanbeng Kaffo and the payment made by Ecobank to customers whose funds where tampered with by Victoria, where tendered at the court but the defence council, Barrister Kebba Sanyang, objected to them be marked as exhibits.

He said the documents were all copies, not originals. The prosecutor then withdrew the documents and applied for adjournment.

There was no objection to the application for adjournment so the case was adjourned until 2 November 2010 for the defendant to produce originals of the documents.

27 comments:

  1. The fee for different therapists can depend on the
    total duration of their therapy plan. Remember that
    you are usually limited to a number of sessions
    so you might want to consider paying out of your own pocket.
    Complete rehab solutions provide services for these type people.
    Check out my web site : depression books kids

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you want to earn more when you become a therapist or holistic practitioner, then it
    would make sense to have an open mind and move away from the mindset of treating your private practice as though it
    is a hobby, right. Indeed, the best schools produce
    the best physical therapists in the country, so it is every aspiring therapist.
    Physical therapist or physiotherapist is a really captivating career in the field of medicine.
    Also visit my blog post - depression light box

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It's on a totally different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Superb choice of colors!
    Have a look at my blog post : healthy diet plans

    ReplyDelete
  4. You can certainly see your expertise in the article you
    write. The sector hopes for even more passionate writers such as you
    who are not afraid to say how they believe.
    Always go after your heart.

    Here is my web blog; glutenallergie testen
    Also visit my site : leben ohne kohlenhydrate

    ReplyDelete
  5. If you wish for to get a great deal from this article then
    you have to apply such techniques to your won web site.


    My site - Read �

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis.
    It's always exciting to read through content from other writers and use something from other web sites.

    My web site glutenfrei brot selber backen
    My website :: lebensmittel mit gluten

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have learn some just right stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting.
    I wonder how so much attempt you set to make this type of wonderful
    informative site.

    my page ... eiweisspulver zum abnehmen

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wonderful blog! I found it while browsing on Yahoo News.

    Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo
    News? I've been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Cheers

    Feel free to surf to my weblog :: rapsöl gesund oder nicht

    ReplyDelete
  9. This web site really has all the information and facts I needed about this subject and
    didn't know who to ask.

    Also visit my website - diätdrinks zum abnehmen

    ReplyDelete
  10. Howdy! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which blog platform
    are you using for this website? I'm getting sick and tired of Wordpress because I've had problems with hackers and I'm looking at options for another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

    Feel free to surf to my blog ... Pasta Sauce Discounts

    ReplyDelete
  11. If you wish for to get much from this paragraph then you have to
    apply these methods to your won web site.

    my page Nicorette s gum discount coupons online

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all of us you actually recognise
    what you are speaking about! Bookmarked. Please additionally discuss with my site =).
    We could have a link change arrangement among us

    Visit my blog ... nabisco s back to school coupons

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot
    of spam comments? If so how do you stop it,
    any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it's driving me crazy so any help is very much appreciated.

    Feel free to surf to my website ... folgers coffee printable discount codes

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello! Quick question that's completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My web site looks weird when viewing from my iphone. I'm trying to find a template or plugin that
    might be able to resolve this problem. If you have
    any suggestions, please share. Appreciate it!

    Here is my web site - Eukanuba discount coupons october 2013

    ReplyDelete
  15. Today, I went to the beachfront with my kids.
    I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear." She put
    the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear.
    She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!


    my web blog: coupons

    ReplyDelete
  16. Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Thanks for supplying this information.


    my webpage :: tipps blog wordpress

    ReplyDelete
  17. I have been surfing online more than 2 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
    It is pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did,
    the internet will be a lot more useful than ever before.


    Take a look at my blog post :: Finanzberatung Wiesbaden

    ReplyDelete
  18. I really like it when folks come together and share
    opinions. Great blog, stick with it!

    Check out my site ... steinzeiternährung

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi there Dear, are you truly visiting this site on a regular basis,
    if so then you will absolutely obtain good experience.



    Stop by my web blog; Testoril Review

    ReplyDelete
  20. You made some really good points there. I looked on the
    web for additional information about the issue and found most people will go along
    with your views on this website.

    Feel free to visit my web page ... http://gloriouslinks.com/user/profile/mitchellg/

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hello There. I discovered your blog the usage
    of msn. That is a really smartly written article.
    I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful info.
    Thank you for the post. I will certainly comeback.


    my blog post ... http://www.libr3.org/wiki/index.php?title=Usuario:EugenioFu

    ReplyDelete
  22. Its slightly longer and wider, and it sexcam
    generally coped well with the United States, which
    serves as a framework for something that will be cool rather than something that actually is right now.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hello! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers?
    My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months
    of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any solutions
    to stop hackers?

    Here is my web site :: vacation rentals by owner colorado vail

    ReplyDelete
  24. Today, I went to the beach front with my kids. I found
    a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear." She placed the
    shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear.
    She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!


    Feel free to visit my site :: short term housing nyc students

    ReplyDelete
  25. hello!,Ι love your wгitіng very much!
    Shoulԁ we communicate somе time regardіng yοur
    post on reddit? Ӏ require an exрert in
    this spaсe tо unraνel mу problem.
    May be that's you! Taking a look ahead to peer you.

    Here is my web-site fast cash loan no credit check

    ReplyDelete
  26. I am sure this post has tоuched all the visitors, its vеrу
    fastidiοus eԁitoгial on buіlding up nеw blog.


    Alsο visіt my webpage: fast cash today

    ReplyDelete
  27. Why users still use to read news papers when in this technological globe everything is presented
    on net?

    Take a look at my web page ... miscrits rare ()

    ReplyDelete