Woman’s agony after account drained dry

Her bank account was virtually drained in phantom transactions, leaving her penniless.

Now the desperate businesswoman, Regina Njeri Njoroge, has been thrown out of her house for not paying rent, yet she had Sh434,795 in the account before the fraudsters struck.

The fraudulent withdrawals were made, not at the ATM, but over the counter in the space of two days last month, making it harder for Ms Njoroge to understand how it happened.

She is the only authorised holder of the account at Family Bank.

On Wednesday, she wondered: “How can somebody else access my account yet a customer cannot withdraw money without an identity card? The bank also stores my signature and photo. They check them to make sure it’s me, every time I present myself.”

Records show the money was withdrawn five times between July 8 at 11.15am and 9.36am the following day.

Ms Njoroge told the Nation the bank informed her the transactions took place at the bank’s branches in Westlands, Limuru, Naivasha, Nakuru and Njoro.

She swears she has never set foot in those premises adding: “I even can’t show you where they are.”

She discovered the rip off on July 12, when she entered Family Bank’s branch at Githurai, hoping to withdraw Sh40,000.

“My brother had called me from the US and informed me he would be coming home. I wanted the money to hire a vehicle for him as he had requested. I was shocked when the cashier said I only had Sh32,000,” Ms Njoroge said.

The woman immediately complained to the bank manager and the account was frozen, so she could not even get access to what the fraudsters had left.

Since, Ms Njoroge has made numerous visits to the bank, including its headquarters at Four Ways Towers.

She demanded to be shown copies of the withdrawal slips that indicated the signature used was not hers.

“They told me my account would be replenished and I should check with them after a week. I’m now disappointed. Every time I visit, I’m given another date. I cannot meet my expenses,” Ms Njoroge said.

Family Bank’s chief marketing officer in charge of corporate communications Henry Karugu confirmed the complaint had been received.

“Some fraud has been detected. It’s now under investigation to identify those culpable. Ultimately the money will be refunded if the customer is found to be clean, because all accounts are insured. I assure her, she should not be worried,” he said.

Locked my house

But Ms Njoroge has every reason to be worried: “The landlord locked my house. I was forced to move into my sister’s house together with my son. I had enrolled, him for holiday tuition but he cannot attend after I was unable to pay the dues,” the woman who operates a butchery at Githurai 44 that she now fears might close down, told the Nation.

Besides lodging the complaints, the customer also reported the matter at the Banking Fraud Investigations Unit.

Head of unit Gabriel Mbuvi told the Nation that fraud cases involving banks and other financial investigations are received daily.

“We record cases every other time that involve millions and millions of shillings. Besides pursuing perpetrators and taking them to court, we also advise the victims on the safeguards to ensure they are not easy prey,” he said.

Past police investigations have revealed that fraudsters are successful in most cases because they operate in cahoots with unscrupulous bank employees.

Mr Karugu declined to divulge details of the investigation, but said: “You cannot eliminate the fact that staff members may be involved. We shall catch the culprits, insiders or outsiders. The investigations will show.”

Official police reports show that while bank staff have been found culpable in many of the cases investigated, the institutions report only a few, opting to deal with errant employees quietly to avoid undermining customer confidence.

The police reports further reveal colossal loses through technology-based crime.

According to latest reports released in May, banks reported to police for investigation 53 cases involving the loss of Sh62 million, but only Sh1.4 million was recovered.

The cash was lost mainly through computer fraud and electronic funds transfers.

Police have recently engaged in intelligence collection instead of depending on banks to report theft.

They believe the amounts reported reflect a small portion of real losses.