By Mary BASSEY, Senior Investigator Correspondent, Lagos/
LAGOS- SPIRITED efforts by management of Union Bank Plc to cork the monumental fraud that has been associated with the bank’s new management team in recent times, has been blown open by an ex-staff Salau Abdulmalik Femi who was recently arrested for hacking the Flex-Cube Universal System of the bank.
Police operatives attached to the Special Fraud Unit SFU, Milverton Road, Ikoyi Lagos had sometime last month, arrested Abdumalik on the offence that he hacked the Flex-Cube Universal System of the bank during which he allegedly pulled out the sum of N1billion, eight hundred and sixty-eight million, nine hundred thousand naira, (N1,868,900,000.00) belonging to several customers of the bank.
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Top Police source whispered to CrimeWrold magazine online that upon Abdulmalik’s arrest, some management staff and consultants of the bank had stormed the Police Unit and entreated on the Investigation Police Officer IPO through his Commissioner of Police CP Anderson Bankole after unspecified huge amount of money changed hands, to ensure that the name of their bank and the indicted management staff were kept secret from the press.
But in his confessional statement during interrogation, Abdulmalik Femi was said to have told the Police detectives that he actually committed the fraud but that he could not have perpetrated it all alone adding some top management staff with the Systems Analysis Unit SAU and Electronics Banking Unit EBU of the bank were privy to the fraud.
According to him, it was through these insider connection that the money pulled out was stashed into various bank accounts of different banks before the bubble bust.
But the police in a statement signed by DSP Eyitayo Johnson, image maker of the Police SFU and made available to CrimeWorld magazine online in frantic effort to conceal the identity of the Bank and Staff involved simply referred to it as a “first generation Bank” and completely kept mum on the indicted Senior staff of the bank. The press statement reads in part: “Using application software, he created fictitious credits totaling One Billion, Eight Hundred Thousand Naira (N1,868,900,000.00) on the accounts of three (3) of the Bank’s customers and successfully consummated debits (outflows) amounting to Four Hundred and Seventeen Million, Five Hundred and Forty-Two Thousand Naira (N417,542,000.00) through Internet Banking transfers to other Banks.
The Unit, while acting swiftly on petition from the Bank; contacted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) whose customers were beneficiaries of the fraudulent funds and was able to salvage a substantial amount.
Items recovered from the suspect includes; Apple Laptop and iPhone; while he and operators of BDCs used to launder the monies will be charged to Court as soon as investigation is concluded.
Consequently, the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Unit, CP. Anderson A. Bankole has scheduled a meeting with Chief Compliance Officers/and Head of Technology/Information Security Department of Banks with a view to brainstorm on the loophole exploited by this suspect and how to counter similar hacks; for the benefit of both the Police and the Banking Sector of our economy.”
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