The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, passed through Second Reading a bill that is proposing 20 years imprisonment for bank staff who fraudulently tamper with their customers’ accounts.
Speaking on the intendment of the private member bill, Hon Francis Waive said the bill seeks to achieve up-to-date data for bank staff, adding that it also seeks to increase the punishment in jail term for bank staff who are found culpable of in-house fraud, about the bank accounts of customers, as well as other vices that contravene their professional conduct, from 10 to 20 years in jail, to serve as a deterrent.
While speaking on the general principles of the bill, Hon Waive said the reports of internet fraud in the banking industry has become rampant and a source of worry to almost everyone.
He explained that the proposed bill provided that banks should post the data of their staff yearly to enable the relevant authorities track any fraudulent act.
He said: “Be it enacted by the National Assembly, the Bank Employee, etc (declaration of assets) Act, CAP B1 LFN, 2011 on this Bill referred to as the principal Act is hereby amended as follows: Section 5 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (1) by substituting the existing words with the following words instead thereof: “The Chief Executive of every bank shall once in every year, but not later than 7th January submit to the appropriate authority a list of all employees who joined or left the employment of the bank in the immediate preceding 12 months expiring on 31st December of the preceding year.
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“Section 7 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (2) by substituting the existing words with the following words instead thereof “Any employee guilty of an offence under subsection or the section shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for 20 years and shall, in addition, forfeit the excess asset or its equivalent in money to the Federal Government,” he noted.
While expressing support for the bill, Chairman, House Committee on Navy, Hon Yusuf Gagdi, who argued that bank officials have taken public trust for granted underscored the need for enactment of adequate legal framework to deter them from embarking on these illegal actions.
He said: “So, Mr Speaker, I think we should not even be interested in the 20 years. In my opinion, it should be more. If I keep my money in your bank, fraudulently some bank officials conspired with fraudsters to take money from customers’ accounts and again they are under oath but they disclose information regarding some customers that do not play their own cards.
“This Bill that seeks to amend that framework is apt. We should also look at those 20 years in a very clean perspective so that if the Bill is passed, it will serve as a deterrent to bank officials that take that trust between them and customers for granted,” he stressed.
On his part, immediate Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Hon Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, stressed the need for the Bill to expand the culpability and subsequent punishment to be extended to even the leadership of banks, including Directors and Board members who use their positions to illegally divert depositor’s funds for personal gain and purposes.
“The Managing Director, the Board of Directors and owners of the banks are employees of the bank. Some frauds like we read, they will tell you one Managing Director is richer than the bank, they will tell you a board member is this and so on. It has given a narrow description of employee of bank. Directors of banks should be interpreted for this purpose to be employees of banks.
“You see Directors accessing loans without collateral. If you apply this law strictly, Directors are employees of the bank, bank owners or anybody who is related to the bank should be deemed to be an employee of the bank,” Hon Nkem-Abonta said.
In the same vein, Deputy Minority Leader, Hon Toby Okechukwu who canvassed for stiffer punishment maintained that prison time cannot adequately deterred would-be criminals from carrying out these acts.
He, therefore, called for stiffer punishment on the bank who should also be held liable as an institution, not just the individual employee.
This, he stated, will make the banks more responsible for the security of their customer’s security details and funds.
In his remarks, Hon Dachung Bagos stated that under the sim-swap law, the banks use bye-laws (Bank Rules and Regulations) to punish fraudulent employees, not the relevant national laws, which is a practice that should be discontinued.
While venting his view, Hon Tyough Aondona, called for proper regulations of banking activities, but a reasonable jail term of punishment.
After a robust debate on the bill, Speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila referred the bill to the House Committee on Banking and Currency for further legislative action.
Recall that the House on Thursday, June 10, 2021, passed similar bill which seeks to bar bank employees from operating foreign accounts and ensure compulsory asset declaration by bank employees, as part of efforts aimed at stemming corruption in the financial sector.
The lawmakers expressed their support during the debate on a bill that seeks to amend the Bank Employees etc (Declaration of Assets) Act CAP B1 Laws of the Federation 2004 which was enacted on the 26th of September 1986 by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.
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