Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions' fraud cases fall sharply by 87% – BoG report

The Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) reported 241 fraud cases in 2023 as compared to 1,835 cases in 2022, indicating a steep decrease of 87%, the Bank of Ghana has revealed in its 2023 fraud report.

The major fraud cases recorded in the SDI sector are cash theft, fraudulent withdrawals, and forgery and manipulation of documents.

Cash suppression, which has been a fraud-prone area, saw a significant decline from 1,597 cases recorded in 2022 to 156 cases in 2023, indicating a 90% reduction, said the report.

It noted that most of the cases reported emanated from the Rural and Community Banking (RCBs) sub-sector.

The BoG said it has engaged “extensively” with the Board of Directors and Management teams of RCBs in the recent past on cash suppression for the rural banks to institute mitigating measures to reduce this fraud type to the barest minimum.

“It is refreshing to note that the BoG’s extensive engagements with the RCBs are yielding the right results as seen in the declines recorded in the year under review,” said the report.

The SDIs recorded a total loss of approximately GH¢8.7 million in value terms due to fraud in 2023, as compared to a loss of approximately GH¢4.4 million in 2022, indicating an increase of 98% loss in value to SDIs, computed the report.

In terms of the loss value, the SDI sector recorded the following as the topmost fraud cases: fraudulent withdrawals from customers’ accounts, cash theft (cash suppression), and e-money fraud.

The report said fraudulent withdrawals from customers’ accounts recorded the highest loss value of GH¢4.6 million significantly higher than GH¢0.17 million in 2022.

Cash theft (cash suppression) saw a dip of 32% from 2022.

The loss value recorded in 2023 was GH¢1.9 million as compared to GH¢2.8 million in 2022.

E-money fraud also emerged as part of the topmost fraud in this sub-sector. The year 2023 recorded loss value of GH¢1.4 million as compared to GH¢800 in 2022, indicating a significant increase in E-money fraud.