BoG Reports 46% Rise in Staff-Related Fraud at Banks and SDIs, Calls for Tighter Internal Oversight

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has warned of serious consequences for staff engaged in misbehavior within banks and specialized deposit-taking institutions (SDIs).

Between 2022 and 2023, the number of staff-related fraud incidents in banks and SDIs increased from 188 to 274, or by a significant margin of 46%, per the Central Bank’s fraud report for 2023. Of the 274 cases of staff fraud reported in 2023, up from 140 linked to cash theft (cash suppression) involving the manipulation, withholding or redirection of cash or funds received from customers ses compared with 2022. 

To help fight against the alarming data published, the Bank of Ghana has directed banks and SDIs to improve internal compliance controls, strengthen staff due diligence processes during hiring, in addition to enhancing mandatory in-house training for professional ethics. 

According to the summary, banks collectively reported 969 fraud cases in 2023, which represented a 17% drop from the year earlier. But the financial losses delivered by the banks jumped to a disturbing GH¢63 million in 2023, up from GH¢52 million reported in 2022 (21 percent increment).

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Cash theft cost the bank GH¢14.8 million in 2023, up from GH¢1 million last year and resulted in the biggest financial crime loss of the previous year. Such a spurt is due to theft of foreign currency cash and instability in the dollar rate within the year. Out of these, second on the list was Cyber/email fraud which caused a total loss of Gh¢10.5 million and fraudulent withdrawals from accounts (unfunded account) came in third with losses amounting to Gh¢8.4 million.

Additionally, forgery and document manipulation resulted in losses of GH¢6.9 million in 2023, although this represented a significant 78% decrease from the GH¢32 million reported in 2022. Lastly, cheque fraud incurred losses of GH¢6.1 million, rounding out the top five types of fraud affecting banks.