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ICPC Bust Sterling Bank, Keystone Bank, Discovers N258m New Naira Notes
….Arrest Principal Officers
Fred Omotara, Lagos
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday announced that it’s operatives busted the head office of Sterling Bank in Abuja and discovered the sum of N258m new Naira notes stashed in the banks vault while large crowd of customers waited outside endlessly without access to cash.
In a statement posted on its verified Twitter handle on Tuesday night, the ICPC also said that it’s operatives has also effected the arrest of the Head of Operations, Keystone Bank, Mararaba in Nasarawa State for frustrating its customers at getting the new Naira notes.
According to the ICPC, “Our Operatives last week Friday, discovered the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty-Eight Million Naira (N258m) new Naira notes stashed in the vault at the head office of Sterling Bank in Abuja.
“This discovery followed one of the Commission’s operations at ensuring that commercial banks and other interest groups do not flout the apex bank’s directive.
“When the ICPC monitoring team visited the bank and discovered the stashed new Naira notes in the bank’s vault, it was informed that the cash was the remnant of what the CBN had given the bank for onward distribution to its branches.
“The team however found out that only the sum of Five Million Naira (N5m) each was distributed to their various branches.
“Both the Regional and Service managers were arrested and later granted administrative bail while investigation continues.
“The Commission has also effected the arrest of the Head of Operations, Keystone Bank, Mararaba in Nasarawa State for frustrating its customers at getting the new Naira notes
“The ICPC team, while on its routine operation, found out that the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at the branch were not dispensing to its customers, while other bank customers were accessing only One Thousand Naira.
“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 Five Thousand Naira to non-customers and Ten Thousand Naira to its customers.”