By e-Crime Bureau
The recent Bank of Ghana (BOG) 2024 Fraud Report reveals that the number of staff involved in fraud at Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) increased by 33%, from 274 in 2023 to 365 in 2024.
Cash theft was the most common crime perpetrated, with 274 staff (75%) implicated in 2024, which is up from 211 (77%) in 2023. Although the percentage declined slightly, the actual number rose.
Concerns are being raised due to the consistent and steady increase in staff involvement in fraudulent activities within these financial institutions. In total, 155 staff were dismissed by Banks and SDIs. Of these dismissals, 83 staff (54%) were due to cash theft related fraud.
The report notes that only 155 staff, representing 43% of the 365 staff involved in fraudulent activities, were dismissed. This suggests that other implicated staff may be exonerated or given lesser punishments. The difficulty in recovering potential losses due to prolonged legal proceedings also leads institutions to stop pursuing cases.
To address this issue, the BOG has issued directives to Banks and SDIs. These include strengthening internal controls and staff due diligence mechanisms during recruitment, reinforcing continuous in-house training on professional conduct, and ensuring the prosecution of culprits to act as a deterrent. Banks and SDIs are also required to strengthen disciplinary policies and foster a culture of zero tolerance for fraud.
Aside from the directives from the BoG to the Banks and SDIs, e-Crime Bureau strongly recommends that financial institutions urgently implement comprehensive digital monitoring solutions that leverage artificial intelligence to detect unusual employee behavior patterns in real-time.
Furthermore, organisations should establish independent whistleblower channels managed by third parties to overcome the cultural barriers that often prevent colleagues from reporting suspicious activities, as peer reluctance to report misconduct remains a significant blind spot in existing fraud prevention frameworks.
Financial institutions must additionally put internal control mechanisms to the test in order to establish their levels of adequacy to prevent, detect and respond to activities that result in the fraud occurrence. This will inform the required amendments to address new modus operandi being adopted by employees.
Banks must develop comprehensive awareness engagement programmes for clients which will enable them understand the levels of risk exposure through the sharing of regular cyber/financial crimes intelligence on the potential loopholes that could result in human compromises that will to the fraud.
Overall, this report is coming at a crucial point that should stair a broader industry collaboration and a deeper assessment of the regulatory regimes that exist in tackling insider related fraud that clearly have a potential of destabilizing the gains being made in other critical aspects of the financial system.
