First Bank logo, MD/CEO, Olusegun Alebiosu
By Victory Oghene
Four months after Tijani Muiz Adeyinka, a manager with the operation team of First Bank who allegedly perpetrated a N40 billion naira fraud, First Bank has sacked over 100 employees.
They were precisely relieved of their jobs in July 2024 on account of the fraud.
Adeyinka who is currently at large, used his authorisation to approve chargebacks to accounts he controlled.
According to TechCabal about 120 employees, including full-time and contract staff of First Bank’s large operations department, were given termination letters in July. The head of transactions at the time was also sacked.
These employees were accused of laxity in carrying out their duties and were told they should have spotted the fraud earlier. First Bank’s management team believed it was impossible for a fraud of that scale and timeline to have been executed without the knowledge of Adeyinka’s superiors.
“The CEO said there will be zero tolerance for supervisory negligence,” squealed an insider.
It would be recalled that Adeyinka, who was the final line of authorisation on his team, carried on his scheme unnoticed for two years. When the incident was discovered in March, the bank tried to keep the matter under wraps, suspending several operations team members indefinitely. However, First Bank became more aggressive after the fraud became public.
Several employees were questioned by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and detained at the Lion’s Building for at least six hours, one person with direct knowledge of the incident said “Those employees needed to post bail before they were released. Restrictions have been placed on all their personal accounts except their First Bank accounts”
NATIONAL WAVES’ efforts to speak to Chinwe Bode Akinwade of Corporate Communications department of First Bank on its findings were fruitless as calls to her line were not answered, and she has yet to respond to a message sent to her on the matter.
