Savings & Loans industry trained in financial crime investigations and fraud management

Over the past three (3) years, the financial services sector has gone through significant phases following challenging experiences as a result of economic policy changes and changing trends in the financial fraud landscape as reported in the Bank of Ghana’s Fraud Reports of 2021 and 2022.

Amongst the key highlights of the 2021 and 2022 reports include forgery and manipulation of documents, fraudulent withdrawals, cheque fraud, cyber/email fraud, cash theft (cash suppression), among others.

The Ghana Association of Savings & Loans Companies (GHASALC), a registered association of all Savings and Loans Companies in Ghana, has over the past twelve (12) years collaborated closely with the e-Crime Bureau, a leading cybersecurity and investigations consulting firm in Ghana, to build capacity of professionals in areas of cybersecurity risk management, financial crimes and digital forensics investigations, anti-money laundering, data protection, etc. for institutions within the industry.

The 2-day Financial Crime Investigations & Fraud Management Training came off on Wednesday, February 21 – 22, 2024 with the focus to bring a hands-on approach to equipping professionals with the needed skills to address fraud risks.

It was also organized to ensure that the savings and loans industry plays a crucial role in improving upon the fraud trends in the Bank of Ghana’s Fraud Reports in subsequent years.

Key modules treated in the sessions included the following:

• Understanding Financial Crimes: The Ghanaian Context

• Recognising Fraud Red Flags

• Conducting Financial Crime Investigations

• Practical Sessions on Financial Crimes Investigations

• Fraud Prevention Strategies & Regulatory Compliance

At the conclusion of the training, the Lead facilitator for the session, Mr. Eric Kwaku Mensah who is also the Lead, Financial Crimes & AML at the e-Crime Bureau indicated the critical need for professionals to relook at strategies to address the emerging fraud trends most of which have become very complicated to investigate such as highly coordinated mobile money fraud schemes, changing modus operandi in cheque fraud, impersonation and forgery, insider facilitated fraud schemes, ATM and payment card related fraud, among others.

The success of the sessions is expected to empower participating institutions and professionals to effectively implement fraud risk management strategies to reduce financial losses and operational challenges arising from financial crime incidents.

In his closing remarks, the Principal Consultant of e-Crime Bureau, Mr. Philip Debrah Danquah, urged participants to review existing controls and adopt new and innovative strategies that will attract the commitment of Board and Management to give them the support in their mandate.

He further encouraged participants to adopt close association with other institutions within the industry to ensure adequate information sharing on issues that occur within the industry whiles addressing insider fraud risks.

He stated that the Bureau will be counting on the impact this training has made in their professional development to ensure that the next Fraud Report by the Bank of Ghana provides an improved outcome of the performance of the industry.