ICPC warns banks to stop aiding criminals
Andrew Orolua, Abuja
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission(ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, has warned financial institutions to stop aiding financial crimes.
He said some of the banks either unconsciously or deliberately are opening accounts for criminals and thus providing them with services that helped their criminal acts.
ICPC spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa said in a statement on Tuesday that Owasanoye made the call when the management of Bank of Industry (BoI) visited the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Owasanoye said the Commission will continue to clampdown on corrupt elements in the industry, stressing that unethical investors undermined the ethics of banking industry.
The chairman pledged the commission’s commitment to work together with financial institutions in order to rid them of corrupt elements.
Owasanoye expressed concerns at the complicity of a few of Nigeria’s financial services industry with criminals to ruin the country, stating that one bad apple can ruin the entire bunch.
He maintained that some financial institutions condone unethical conducts by opening accounts for criminals, while they use innuendos to make suggestions of criminality to lure customers.
He also pointed out that “unethical investors undermine the ethics of the industry, and promised to deal decisively with the likes of them who infringe the law.”
While calling on stakeholders in the industry to work with the anti-corruption agency, the ICPC boss noted that doing so would help in isolating the corrupt elements in the system.
