ENigeria Newspaper, a news platform publishing as e-nigeriang.com is reporting that Akinola George-Taylor, Managing Director of embattled Heritage Bank is yet again engulfed in a failed move to blackmail it.
Read full report below;
This is following a revelation in an exclusive report published on ENigeria Newspaper website days back. The news bordering on an alleged diversion of N49 billion from the bank’s coffers via its Finacle platform went viral almost immediately with several news portals reproducing it and giving ENigeria Newspaper credit as the original owners.
Not long afterward, we began to notice the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob in the series of events that ensued.
First was an attempt to hack and hijack our website by skilled internet phishers, one which was immediately averted by our team of IT experts. Still undeterred, our domain registrars wrote us via our official mailbox mandating us to take down the report which exposed the rot, high level of fraud, and insider dealing in the Akinola George-Taylor-led Heritage Bank on grounds of a concocted copyright claim by an unnamed individual or company.
After proper consultation with our legal team, it became inevitable that we write an official response to the mail which we consider not only audaciously insulting but embarrassing too.
In this era of serious advocacy for a free press worldwide, it is especially embarrassing that a company like Heritage Bank, which has public records pointing to its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and Liquidity Ratio (LR) crisis; along with a boardroom crisis orchestrated internally, can go that low just to prove a point to media practitioners.
While we want to assure our readers that we stand by our story, we also want to formally warn Mr. George-Taylor and his cohorts to cease and desist immediately from dragging their brand in the mud and apply the requisite energy to fix the issues pointed out in our report instead of beating about the bush.
Meanwhile, E-Nigeria Newspaper had earlier reported that it learned that Rilwan Dabiri the bank’s former head of IT, upon his exit handed over the IT department to his successor who is simply identified as Akin.
Since resuming his new position as head of IT, Akin had allegedly been engaging in serious insider fraud which includes unauthorized transfer of funds from the bank’s coffers into private bank accounts which he secretly operates without the knowledge of his employers.
According to the bank’s structure, only the head of IT has sole access and operates the Finacle platform which is solely used for online transfer of funds in the financial sector. For this reason, Akin who has unfettered access to the platform seized the opportunity to initiate multiple transfers of about N49 billion into six accounts domiciled in six commercial banks in Nigeria.
His escapades were soon exposed following an internal audit per the instruction of the bank’s MD, George-Taylor which reportedly exposed the mega fraud. Upon further interrogation, he was only able to drop one of the six accounts before disappearing and switching off his phone.
The management of the bank is afraid of inviting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to open an investigation for fear of stirring up the hornet nest.
It remains to be seen how the new leadership of Heritage Bank under the watch of George-Taylor intends to steer the lender off troubled waters, but key indicators suggest that things are not good
Post Views: 1,003
