A Lagos business man identified as Bala Ibrahim, has called on the management of Keystone Bank to ensure the return of an unauthorised withdrawal of N5.9m from his corporate account.
According to The PUNCH, Ibrahim stated that an erstwhile manager of a branch of the bank in the Agege area of Lagos State, Tijani Saleh, allegedly made the unauthorized withdrawal from his account.
According to information obtained, Ibrahim opened a business account with the bank and deposited N20 million into it.
Ibrahim stated shortly after the account was funded that he needed N5.9m to support some of the tasks his business was undertaking but had not yet received a cheque to withdraw funds from the corporate account.
Ibrahim claimed that in an effort to withdraw the funds, he went to the bank manager for advice on the avenues to pursue. He added that the manager required his company’s letterhead paper in order to execute the request.
The businessman, however, claimed that things took an unexpected turn when the bank manager allegedly withdrew N5.9 million from his corporate account using letterhead paper without his permission.
Ibrahim claimed that he raised the alarm when he requested his statement of accounts and that the bank fired the manager as a result of learning about the manager’s actions.
Despite knowing that the former manager was responsible for the unlawful withdrawal, he noted that the bank had failed to reimburse his money.
Ibrahim said, “I opened a N20m corporate account with the Keystone Bank. But when I needed some money to facilitate some projects in my company, I approached the bank manager. He told me to send the letter-headed paper of my company and I did.
“It was later on I realised he used the letter-headed paper to withdraw N5.9m from my account without my consent. The bank got wind of his action and sacked him. Since then I started begging them to return my money, but they refused.
“I then reported the matter to the EFCC but the matter was turned against me and I was charged to court. We spent over five years on the case before I was finally discharged and acquitted.”
Ibrahim asserted that subsequent to the conclusion of the case, the EFCC exhibited a failure to initiate legal proceedings against the bank or enforce the restitution of funds owed to him.
“They accused me of withdrawing the money and yet claimed for a reversal. I wrote several letters to make them reverse the money. They have refused. I wrote the EFCC to charge them to court as they did to me but they refused. All I want is my money back,” he said.
In response, a spokesman for Keystone Bank Plc, Edward Ettu wrote to our correspondent in an email that a forensic investigation revealed Ibrahim had taken the money out via a countercheck.
Ettu partly stated, “When the matter was reported to the police, they went further to investigate the N20m lodged into the account of the customer. The customer refused to allow his fingerprints, amongst others, to be taken but eventually, a forensic report showed that he was the one that withdrew the money through a counter cheque because his chequebook was not ready.
“That judgment neither said he had money with the bank nor that the bank debited his account legally. That did not come up in court at all. The same man that is asking about N5.9m filed a suit against the FG, EFCC, and the bank claiming damages to the tune of over N2 bn but did not make any claim of N5.9m against the bank.
“Up till now, there is no suit against the bank on N5.9m. Our record shows that he was the one that withdrew the money and the forensic examination conducted on his writing and signature proved that. It is not true that the bank debited his account illegally and no court order said so.”
