In Abuja, EFCC arrests bank manager for ‘hoarding N29m new notes

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the operations manager of a commercial bank in Abuja for hoarding N29 million of the new naira notes.

This was disclosed in a  statement released by EFCC  on Monday, stating that the operations manager was arrested after refusing to load the bank’s automated teller machines (ATMs) despite having N29 million in the vault.

“Before he was whisked away for further questioning, the operatives ordered the loading of all the ATMs and the payment of the stipulated amount across the counter to the delight of the distraught customers who had spent hours in queues without getting the new notes.

“This discovery, which indicates sabotage of the government’s monetary policy by some banks, was made by the EFCC in continuation of the ongoing surveillance and visit to banks across the country to access their vaults and verify whether they were deliberately refusing to dispense the redesigned naira notes.

“More than five bank branches were covered today by the operatives in Abuja. Similar exercises are ongoing in zonal commands across the country,” the statement read.

The arrest is coming two days after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) apprehended the manager of a bank in Osogbo, the Osun State capital for loading ATMs with cash bundles wrapped with nylon, and as such, could not be dispensed through the machines.