 |
Some senior management staff of banks have taken advantage of the scarcity of the redesigned new naira notes in major cities of the country to enrich themselves at the expense of needy members of the public, Blueprint ’s investigation has revealed.
Specifically, the bankers sell the new notes to the highest bidders and other desperate citizens.
And as a confirmation of our investigation, the Department of State Services (DSS) has intercepted members of the syndicates selling the new naira notes, just as it implicated some commercial bank officials of being involved in the racket.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sunday heeded calls from different sectors and extended the deadline to February 10.
Highest bidders
Our investigation showed the scarce new notes were sold surreptitiously to big politicians and other “big shots’ sometimes in the bank premises, and at other times, the vault is taken to their private homes for the deal to exchange hands with relative ease.”
Besides, our findings also revealed that the cronies of these senior bank staffers conduct the business on their behalf at a fee at big supermarkets mostly in Wuse, Airport Road and few other places in the Abuja metropolis.
Similarly, some of these bank staffers equally made use of the services of the Point of Sales (POS) agents to trade the scarce new notes to desperate members of the public for a return.
Also, some royal fathers have unsuspectingly benefitted from the immoral deal as some banks executives had visited them to intimate them with the essence of the change and at the same assisted them with ease to change their notes thereby giving them impression that doing so is not tiresome.
Senior Staff of banks
It was gathered from dependable sources that some senior bank management staff took it upon themselves to personally attend to prominent customers in their cozy offices and homes, as well as other individuals willing and ready to pay their price for the new notes.
A marketer in one of the banks located in Central Business District in Abuja told one of reporters that “a deal is closed if any of the choicest customers is ready to part with N50, 000 for every N1.5m new notes with minimum hassles.”
Another marketer who mostly seeks the patronage of spare parts sellers in Utako and Kugbo, told Blueprint “we are eager to do business with them and parting with N75, 000 for N2 million or N100k for N2.5 million was beans cake for them”.
A fair complexion male marketer with more than 15-year experience in the business of scouting for new depositors in one of the blue chip banks spoke to this newspaper on his experience.
He said: “The new notes are not scarce at all. It is only scarce if the customer does not know what to do or if the customer has ‘groundnut’ money.
“From Tuesday last week when there was pressure, any willing customer could walk in directly to the senior personnel and get things sorted out. The deal was simple. You part with 50k for every N1.5 million. But the peak was over the weekend when people were desperate and their demands were equally desperately met as N1.5million went for N70, 000.”
As ATM fails POS to the rescue
Also in his frustration, a POS operator who also deals in GSM cards said “the new notes are available in most banks but only to a selected few who are willing to play ball with those in charge.”
The operator, who runs his POS business in Kuje, Lugbe and Jabi, disclosed that bank personnel have become willing to trade as much as N3 million for N120,000 while they (POS operators) charge N15,000 for N400.
But another POS operator who charges N2000 for every N20000, said: “On Friday, we were at a bank in Wuse and were barely able to receive N2million but not without a cut. We paid N25, 000 per a million naira. Therefore, in my office in Kuje, we charge N1000 for any amount below N15, 000.
“However, those with huge sums ranging from N100, 000 to N500, 000 depending on the bargaining power of the customer, we charge an amount commensurate with the amount.”
He sympathised with the ordinary citizens at the receiving end of the new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment