Men of the Ogun state police command invaded the Oke Ilewo branch of Skye Bank Plc, Abeokuta on Friday on a mission to unravel an alleged Internet fraud of N30m in an account domiciled in the bank.
The fraud involved the state-owned Gateway Savings and Loans Limited’s Internet account with the bank.
Our correspondent amassed that the policemen stormed the bank around 4.30pm with an Armoured Personnel Carrier and not less than four Hilux pick up vans.
The security operatives were verbally expressed to have endeavored to whisk the bank manager and some members of staff away.
The combat mood of the security men sent customers who had besieged the Automated Teller Machines within the bank premises, running helter-skelter.
While some of the security men entered into the banking hall, others kept watch over kineticism of customers and other people outside.
It was learnt that the bank staff engaged the policemen in augument and were reluctant to relinquish their manager for about two hours.
An official of the bank, who verbalized on the condition of anonymity, on Saturday verbally expressed a senior manager of the bank was later taken to the Ibara Divisional Police Station, Abeokuta to make a verbalization.
The official verbalized, “The management of Gateway Savings and Loans came to our bank to lodge a complaint of perpetual fraud and debit of about N30m from their Internet account in our bank.
“Since it was an Internet transaction, we authoritatively mandated them to give us time to call on our technologists to investigate the issue.
“But within an hour, around 4.30pm security operatives in about eight police conveyances and one armoured tank came to the bank and chased away all customers within the bank premises. They verbally expressed they were acting on the order of the governor to apprehend the manager if the mazuma was not provided.
“We told them they could not apprehend anybody from the bank since there was no personal contact with anybody from the bank afore the transaction was made and it was only the management of the Gateway Savings and Loans that kenned the password of the Internet account.
“We told them someone within their organisation who was privy to the password must have hacked their account.”
Our correspondent amassed that the apprehended senior bank official was relinquished immediately he made his verbalization while some officials in the Gateway Savings and Loans Limited were quizzed.
The state Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, could not be reached for comments on the alleged fraud.
But in a telephone interview with our correspondent, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, corroborated the incident.
Olaniyonu verbally expressed an Internet fraud was denuded in the account of the Gateway Savings and Loans Limited domiciled in Skye Bank.
He explicated that the police were already investigating the fraud.
Olaniyonu, however, verbally expressed the amount involved was N14.3m and not N30m as alleged.
He verbalized, “It was not a case of incursion of the bank by policemen. What transpired was that there was a cyberspace fraud. About N14.3m was verbally expressed to be involved. The incident was discovered on Monday but the management and other officials of Gateway Savings and Loans didn’t report the matter until Wednesday.”
Olaniyonu explicated that the police had promised to get a court injunction to compel Skye Bank to reveal certain information about the controversial transaction.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, corroborated that the incident was reported at Ibara Police Station, integrating that the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, had authoritatively mandated the department of malefactor investigation to commence investigation into the matter.
He verbally expressed, “It is true, the matter was recorded at the Ibara Police Station, and the CP has injuctively authorized that the Department of Malefactor Investigation should take up the matter for felicitous investigation.”
When contacted, Corporate Affairs Manager, Skye Bank, Mr. Rasheed Bolarinwa, verbalized he could not make any comment since he had yet to get any information on the matter.
He verbally expressed on the telephone, “I do not have details of what transpired in the branch as I’m just aurally perceiving from you and will crave your indulgence, that you avail me the full details and we would respond to you congruously once I’m able to establish the details from the opportune quarters on Monday.”