…STATE REVENUE CHOPPED
In what now appears to be a deja vu, ECOBANK Sierra Leone is once again on the spotlight for another huge fraud involving government revenue funds deposited at the bank.
Investigation mounted by a team of journalists, uncovered that the money involved runs into tens of billions of Old Leones, in which staff of the Bank (whose names are withheld for now), are said to have connived with other members of staff from another institution, (name withheld for now), to divert government’s funds deposited at the bank into personal accounts.
It is not known whether the bank’s staff that were arrested and detained at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) have been released, but what is confirmed is the fact that a number of staff were arrested and detained days ago, over a huge fraud involving government revenue deposited at the said bank.
As at press time, a senior staff at ECOBANK, who is said to be the kingpin in this racketeering, is said to be on the run and nowhere to be seen.
It could be recalled that this is not the first time such racketeering is happening at the bank. Few years ago, a senior staff of the bank and his wife, who was working in another institution, were convicted for a billion gate involving state revenue. With this latest fraud, citizens and customers of the bank have been left to ponder on whether the bank is now a den for fraud.
Meanwhile, the Bank confirmed to this medium that the very issue was under investigation and that the bank is doing its best to address it.
Read more on this story in subsequent editions.
Investigation continues…