Multi-million Naira frauds are already causing pandemonium in one of the financial institutions of repute, Stanbic IBTC Bank. Police detectives at the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) have revealed.

Police told our Correspondent that Stanbic IBTC is in serious fraud mess and a top female staff, Yemisi Omole, is indicted.

“Apart from pilfering of Customer’s money, teller staff of the bank were regularly caught engaging in fraudulent activities. They jack money from customers account. They manipulate the computer system of the bank in such a way that if money is transfer out of a customer’s account, there would be no SMS, (text message) or email alert,” said a senior Police officer at SFU.

Sources confirmed the banker is currently answering questions pertaining to over N45m (Forty Five Million Naira) fraud rocking one of the StanbicIBTC branches in Lagos.

Police source said there are other cases of sleaze that the bank is yet to clear itself from. “They have so many cases here, which they have not been able to clear themselves from yet and they won’t want the case taken to court either.”

Police said the Abbattoir, Agege, Lagos branch of the bank in particular is said to have been the avenue where they skimmed customers off their hard-earned money on a daily basis. “But we ordered that the branch be closed down and that they have done. That place was the haven for fraudulent activities.”

Operatives from Police Special Fraud Unit, it was learnt, have waded into the matter and arrested the banker who is going under serious questioning on how the frauds were being perpetrated.

The Police, according to a reliable source, are exploring means of using the new development to understand the full extent of the crime and give hints on possible solution. In a related development, Lonestar Drilling Nigeria Limited in a petition to the Police dated 11th March 2013 and a reminder dated January, 23rd 2015, alleged that there were unauthorized withdrawals from two of its accounts at the Stanbic IBTC Bank at Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to the petition, about N40,903,764.36 (Forty Million, Nine Hundred and Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty Four Naira, Thirty Six Kobo) and $547,881.26 (Five Hundred and Forty Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty one Dollars, Twenty Six cents) were fraudulently withdrawn from their accounts managed by one Olalekan Kuti. The said petition also noted that results from an internal audit by the company revealed that the said Mr Kuti in connivance with some employees of Lonestar Drilling have been making unauthorized withdrawals from the said accounts under the false pretence of payment of staff salaries without a monthly mandatory payment advice; from the accounts departments.

Trouble started when the company discovered cases of diversion of funds, stealing and outright sabotage from some of its directors and it went ahead to suspend them from its management. The directors however colluded with Stanbic IBTC to defraud the company the more and sell off some of its properties at rock bottom prices.

During the course of Police investigation it was discovered that the founder of Lonestar Drilling, Chief Humphrey Idisi, was purported to have taken a loan facility of $200 million from Stanbic IBTC Bank for the acquisition of two rigs, but after the death of Chief Idisi in 2009, Stanbic IBTC started diverting all proceeds from the company to its own use.

Mr Lovette Idisi, son of the founder of the company claimed in his deposition that the company makes about $240,000USD (Two Hundred and Forty Thousand dollars) daily from its two operational oil rigs and that an internal audit indicted some members of the company’s management to fraudulently make withdrawals and divert funds from the company. The petitioner also alleged that since 2009, Stanbic IBTC has refused to disclose how much they have deducted from the oil rigs, more so, that the Bank colluded with some directors of the company to start selling off some of the properties of the company at below market prices to themselves and their cronies.

He gave an example of a new ocean going vessel, MV Kinklock, acquired by Lonestar Drilling at the sum of N200 million but was sold off by the Bank at a paltry N10 million without the consent of the management of the company. Also the bank sold two heavy duty generators bought at N100 million each but were sold for N50 million each.

Police detectives added that it has been on the case, with management of StanbicIBTC, without being able to make headway. “They are not ready to cooperate at all. They are frustrating the entire investigation and it is painful”.

Corporate Communications manager of the bank Usman Imanah declined to comment on the Lonester matter as he said “it is already before a court” but he was silent on other misdemeanor of the bank staff.