Months after the multi-million fraud was discovered at Republic Bank (Guyana) the police are yet to arrest or charge anyone; and a bank official would only say there “is no new development”.
When asked about the investigation recently, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said it was continuing and the police have not been able to make any real break in $250 million fraud that was discovered late last year at the bank’s then Regent and Camp Streets location, now moved to Robb and Camp streets.
He had earlier said that that police were in contact with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as the fraud had some Canadian links since money had been deposited in banks in Canada.
Manager, Marketing and Communications Michelle Johnson, when contacted by this newspaper would only say that there “is no development” on the issue. Stabroek News has never been able to receive any real information except for Public Relations Officer Jonelle Dummet stating that the bank was putting mechanisms in place to avoid such a fraud being committed in the future.
But while the local officials in Guyana have been silent, officials at the Trinidad and Tobago-based parent company had told the media representatives in that country that three senior staff had been fired.
General Manager Group Marketing and Communi-cation in Trinidad Anna-Maria Garcia-Brooks had told the Trinidad Express that the three staff members were dismissed because they had not followed internal bank procedures that could have prevented the fraud.
Garcia-Brooks had told the Express that it was not what they could call “internal fraud”, since “the employees were not involved in it. They did not follow the bank’s procedures.
“The procedures are in place and had they followed the procedures the fraud just would not have been perpetuated.
“The important thing is that they find the real fraudsters.”
According to the Express report Garcia-Brooks had said the bank’s board of directors in Port of Spain agreed to the dismissal of the three staff members on the recommendation of Republic Bank (Guyana’s) management.
She said the incident that occurred in Guyana was an isolated one and has nothing to do with its operations in Trinidad and Tobago, as she noted the bank’s procedures are “good” and “well tested”.
Stabroek News was earlier told that a Trinidadian may be involved in the multi-million-dollar fraud.
The fraud was discovered some time last November but this newspaper understands that it occurred over a period and started at the bank’s former Camp and Regent streets location and continued at the new Robb and Camp streets facility.
This newspaper was told that one of the senior employees who was sent home had made an “arrangement” with the bank.
None of the employees who were sent home are prepared to speak and other employees have stated that little or no information was being given to them about the fraud. Some only learnt of it when it was reported in the local newspapers.
While it is not exactly clear how the fraud was perpetrated, Stabroek News was told that so-called “customers” went into the bank and using fraudulent signatures made money transfers to various banks in Canada.
One of the loopholes at the bank that may have been taken advantage of was the fact that there was no way of verifying addresses and identities in other countries. Sources had told Stabroek News that verification of information is done on the telephone on numbers provided by the persons conducting the transaction. It was pointed out that the person could provide the number of someone who is working in collusion with him/her.
It was reported that when the bank found out about the fraud it halted some transfers that were in progress, but sources said that maybe the bank should have allowed the transfers to go through in an effort to ascertain who was receiving the money.
Stabroek News was told that the bank learnt of the fraud when one of its customers went directly to senior officials at the New Market Street head office and made certain claims. Those officials have since been keeping the information close to their chests.
“Hardly any employee knows what happened, even those in senior positions at other branches, no one is saying anything and people are very tense,” one source had said.
Meanwhile, Bank of Guyana Governor Lawrence Williams had said in February that the central bank was awaiting a definitive report from the bank the recent fraud. The report was expected to set out in general terms what contributed to the fraud and the actions the bank has taken.
Williams, who was responding to questions posed by reporters on the fraud, had said that the Central Bank had concerns about detection of fraud in the system. He had noted that the bank’s regulatory procedure includes an inspection and supervision of the financial sector that would assess credit profiles and appraisals at the banks, adding that if weaknesses are detected “the institutions would usually give a timeframe within which to correct the deficiencies”.
The governor had observed that Republic Bank had its own system and stated that as a result, the bank has to ensure that the necessary safeguards are there while paying attention to the individuals that they put in positions of trust.
Further, he had noted that there are certain rules governing the internal systems of banks, which when not adhered to would result in fraud.
This recent fraud, said to be the largest by far, follows one in mid 2006 when six employees were sent home in connection with the disappearance of $8 million from the bank’s Kitty/Guyoil ATM.
