Bank employee in court for stealing customers GH C24, 000

Asamankese, Feb. 18, GNA - Bala Issa Tahiru Adams, an employee of a Rural Bank has been arraigned before the Asamankese circuit court charged with stealing GH¢24,000 belonging to a customer. He pleaded not guilty and was granted GH¢50,000 bail with two sureties to re-appear on March 16. The accused in a caution statement to the police said he stole only GH¢5000.

Police Inspector D.T. Nartey, prosecuting, told the court presided over by Mr Emmanuel Siame, that somewhere in February last year Adams was employed by the South Birim Rural Bank at Akwatia as a "Susu" collector on commission basis. He said as such Adams went round to mobilize funds from customers for the bank.

The prosecution said some current account holders staying far from the bank took advantage of Adams services by lodging deposits into their accounts through him.

He said the customers filled in paid-in slips after, which Adams took the money to deposit into the respective accounts of customers. During July 2008, a witness in the case, Juliana Asamoah, a current account holder after checking her bank statements with her records found an amount of GH¢24,000 missing from her accounts. Same figures in her accounts were also understated. For instance on May 19, 2008, the witness gave GH¢1,500 to Adams to be deposited into her account but only GH¢1000 was deposited. Some sheets of the customers paid-in slips in respect of those transactions could not be traced in the customers' paid-in book. The customer reported the anomaly to the bank manager who in turn informed the head office resulting in the arrest of Adams.