Ethiopian banking industry has suffered more than $36.5 million losses in fraud in the past four years, the country’s Ministry of Justice announced on Tuesday.
Officials and employees of banks were found to be highly involved in the fraud followed by former employees, said Fikadu Tsega, State Minister of Justice crimes while resenting a survey report to officials of the banking industry.
Tsega, said the crimes are found to be complex in nature, making criminals face justice and retrieving the stolen money very difficult, he said.
The investigation tried to find the major culprits of the crimes, according to the state minister
The bank officials often carry out the frauds along with foreign-based agents that provide the technological support to hide the trace of the scams, he said.
Ethio telecom and Document Authentications & Registration Agency (DARA) were also the main accomplices to the crimes, he added
As a result of their frauds, a survey into at least 155 cases found that the banks have lost more than $36.5 million in the past four years, said Tsega, adding the most common scams utilized counterfeit banking documents.
Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia Yinager Dessie said in the face of increasingly sophisticated fraud crimes, the financial institutions need to continue to take further actions, urging them to take note of the findings of the latest survey.
Banks need to invest in new technologies, work on one employee’s ethics, enhance overall customer protection, and document authentication mechanisms to prevent the crime from becoming an even greater risk to the sector, the central bank governor said
MG/abj/APA