One of the leading commercial banks in the country, Standard Chartered Bank Botswana (SCBB) is cagey on information relating to case in which some of its employees have been indicted for allegedly stealing close to P4million.
Although both Standard Chartered Bank and the police are said to have launched an investigation into the matter, the bank said Friday that it would not be drawn into discussing details regarding the issue.
In a brief press statement, Standard Chartered Bank Head of Corporate Affairs Itumeleng Ramsden stated that, “we are aware of the allegations involving one of our Branches”. She confirmed that the bank is currently conducting an internal investigation, and regrettably cannot provide any further details until this process has been concluded. Efforts to contact the police were futile.
However information gathered by Sunday Standard indicates that a branch manager together with other senior staff members are at the core of the investigation. It is understood that the branch manager and the other senior staff members who are suspected have been interdicted from duty pending the investigation.
Shedding light on the matter, an inside source told this publication that some bank officials have in the past connived with unscrupulous criminals to cheat the bank with fraudulent tender entrepreneurs resulting in the bank losing huge amounts money.
It is understood that sometime back a certain businessperson approached the bank to be assisted with funds and the application was turned down due to internal operations. It however emerged that the same businessperson approached the bank manager privately to be assisted with tips on how to secure a good loan.
“A few weeks later the businessperson submitted a fraudulent tender document to the bank in which the bank then processed the loan application. The suspicion is that the bank manager connived with some of the bank staff to make sure that the application succeed with a promise that they will be rewarded immensely after the money has being credited,” an inside source revealed.
Sunday Standard has further been informed that the bank was secretly informed of the criminal activity by one staff member through an internal system that is designed to alert the bank of criminal activity. At the same time, it also emerged that some of the staff members implicated have since resigned from the bank.