Times Of Swaziland: 5 COMPANIES ALLEGEDLY DEFRAUD SWAZIBANK OVER E4M

5 COMPANIES ALLEGEDLY DEFRAUD SWAZIBANK OVER E4M
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 BY STANLEY KHUMALO on 15/05/2017 02:48:00


MBABANE – Five companies have allegedly defrauded SwaziBank an amount
exceeding E4 million.
The five companies, names known to this publication but cannot be revealed for
now, colluded with an employee of the bank in the trickery. The bank employee
allegedly manipulated laid down procedures to offer unwarranted overdraft
facilities to the companies.
An overdraft is an extension of credit from a lending institution when an
account reaches zero.
This allows the individual or account holder to continue withdrawing money even
if the account has no funds in it or not enough to cover the withdrawal.
Investigations have unveiled that in total, E4 181 523.27, was siphoned from the
bank. The most benefitting company from this was awarded E1 847 232.62 while the
minimum paid was E148 611.51.
According to impeccable sources, the bank employee awarded the companies varying
amounts without leaving any paper trail. He is said to have also initiated the
process without any requests being formally forwarded by the companies.
“He started paying the companies last year August and it was discovered in
March while the bank was auditing its internal transactions,” said a source.
When the irregularity was noted, the bank employee was questioned and he in turn
presented a sick note exempting him from his duties for a few days. Later on, he
is said to have resigned.
According to a number of individuals within the higher echelons of the bank
structure, what baffled management was why this transgression was not butted out
from the onset. There were also allegations that the ex-bank employee was
getting a certain amount from the companies for his acts.