Fraudster Disguises As Official, Defrauds Customer Inside Fidelity Banking Hall

A businessman at Trade Fair Market, Lagos, Mr Taiwo Adebari, is
at loggerheads with Fidelity Bank over a N645,000 fraud that
occurred at the bank’s branch in the Balogun area of the
market.

Adebari stated that the bank had been evasive in refunding half
of the payment as allegedly directed by the police.

But an official absolved the financial institution of any
wrongdoing, claiming the depositor and the security company – Hogan
Guards Limited – working with the bank were to blame.

Our correspondent learnt that Adebari, who deals in
wristwatches, had sent his son, Sefiu, to deposit the money at the
bank on August 21, 2019, around 3.30pm.

It was gathered that Sefiu, 18, filled a teller at the banking
hall and was about to proceed to the bulk room to make a deposit
when an elderly man asked him for assistance in filling his own
teller.

While Sefiu was helping out the stranger, a young corporately
dressed man approached him on the pretext of being an official of
the bank and offered to help him deposit the money. As Sefiu was
busy helping out the elderly man, the well-dressed conman left with
the money.

More than 15 minutes later when the man did not return with
evidence of deposit, it dawned on the teenager that he had fallen
victim to fraud.

Adebari explained that his son returned to the shop crying that
he had been defrauded and that the bank manager wanted to see him
(the father).

He said, “I told him that (the fraud) was not possible inside
the bank. I asked him if he was sure of what he said and he said
yes. When we got to the bank, I met with the manager and he
confirmed it. I asked him to help me play the bank’s CCTV
recording. Lo and behold, it is true.

“I then reported the case at the Trade Fair Police Station. The
police arrested the security man at the banking hall. They said
such a thing was not supposed to happen inside the bank. They asked
what I wanted and I said I wanted all my money back because it was
a loan.

“The DCO (Divisional Crime Officer) of the station said it was
not possible because my son too was at fault. At the end of the
day, the bank promised to pay N350,000.”

Adebari said the bank showed no commitment to pay the money
which made him to take the matter to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad
in Ikeja, adding that the police invited the bank manager and the
CCTV recording was properly replayed.

“It indicated that the two fraudsters had been in the bank for
about 20 minutes before my son entered. One of them dressed
corporately while the other one was in a native dress. They were
frolicking around and at some points, sat on a chair without being
challenged by security men.

“The representative of the security company who was also invited
by the police said the guards had been warned to challenge anybody
that is in the bank for five minutes without doing anything,” he
stated.

Adebari explained that SARS eventually asked the bank to refund
half of the money, adding that the bank manager had been
evasive.

Narrating his experience at the bank that day to our
correspondent, Sefiu said, “While I was filling the teller, an
elderly man stood beside me, filling his teller as well. A man who
dressed like a bank official approached the elderly man and offered
to assist him deposit the money.

“Few seconds later, he came back with the money and told him
that the teller was not properly filled. The elderly man asked me
to assist him check the information on the teller. While I was
doing that, the man collected my teller and the money to help me
deposit it. I was expecting him to come back not knowing that he
had gone out. It was when I saw the CCTV recording that I knew he
went out with the money. I didn’t know when the elderly man also
left the bank.”

However, an official of the bank, who spoke to our correspondent
on condition of anonymity, said the bank was not complicit in the
incident.

The official explained that the CCTV recording revealed that the
suspect was not a worker of the bank.

He said, “The incident has nothing to do with the bank. The CCTV
was reviewed in the presence of the man (Adebari) and it showed the
person who collected the money from his son. It was very clear that
the person is not an official of the bank. He then reported the
case at the police station. It was resolved that his son and the
security men, not the bank, were at fault. The security company was
asked to pay him part of the money.

“After the resolution, the man was not satisfied and he reported
the case at SARS office. The bank is not responsible for what
happened. The man saw that his son gave the money to somebody who
is not an employee of the bank.”

An enquiry on the case sent to the email of Hogan Guards
Limited, the private security outfit working with the bank, since
Thursday, November 14, had yet to be replied to as of press
time.

Efforts to get the comment of the spokesperson for the Lagos
State Police Command, DSP Bala Elkana, on the matter proved
abortive as he did not pick up calls to his mobile. He had also yet
to reply to a message sent to him as of press time.

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!