FRAUD EMPIRE: MANY DIRTY SECRET OF HERITAGE BANK AND FEAR OF TOTAL COLLAPSE SET IN AS FG MOVES TO WITHDRAW ITS N9.3 BILLION CAPITAL BASE

Secret Reporters

The fraud in the Nigerian financial institution continues unabated, even as President Muhammadu Buhari takes his corruption fight to the door steps of looters.

One of Nigeria’s major banks, with Senate President Bukola Saraki as the main stakeholder, Heritage Bank has joined the league of fraudulent banks in the financial institution. Others include the many poor services customers experienced in the bank as Secret Reporters investigation has unraveled. The bank may soon collapse completely we can report authoritatively if threats by the new Managing Director of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Usman is carried out.

Findings reveal that, N9.399 billion, being monies realized from the Nigerian Ports Authority was deposited in heritage bank, but through the consent of the chairman of the bank, Akinsola Akinfemiwa, he specifically told top staffers of the bank, that the money be kept away from the Federal Government, even when the President appointed Hadiza as the Managing Director of NPA, since the former management of NPA had played alongside with him, and they were getting percentage interest on the cash lodgment with the bank.

Further findings reveal that, the MD of the Nigerian Port Authority, Hadiza Bala, had dusted some files, and discovered a whooping cash of over 9billion Naira from NPA, which has been in the bank, and made steps to recover it.

With this underhand dealing, Secret Reporters gathered that, the central Bank of Nigeria, may descend heavily on the Bank’s Chairman, and show him the way out, alongside fraudulent Directors of the Bank, as they have been using the cash for business and feeding their private pockets at the expense of the Federal Government, in a time when the Buhari’s led administration is in a serious financial crisis.

But in his characteristic nature of fraud, the Chairman of Heritage, Akinsola Akinfemiwa had claimed knowing nothing about the 9.4 billion naira, and had followed up with an instruction to the staff of the bank, never to disclose any information as it relates to the NPA cash to the maritime authorities.

In a new twist to the controversy, the management of heritage told the NPA authorities that it was an inherited liability from Enterprise Bank. Internal sources confirmed that the only thing keeping the bank in existence is the NPA money and once it is withdrawn, the bank will go the way of Societe General Bank of Nigeria.

This fear we gathered led to the Managing Director, Mr Ifie Sekibo to secretly reach out to powerful Northern politicians and traditional rulers to prevail on Hadiza not to remove the money.

Recollect that, the CBN had banned nine banks from all foreign exchange transactions, which Heritage fell among, with an exception of UBA that has been readmitted into the forex market.

The bank apart from the financial crisis bedeviling it is also enmeshed in leadership tussle as the MD, Mr Ifie Sekibo is uncomfortable with anyone growing in the system. His insecurity led to the underground tussle between him and Mr Robert Mbonu, who he forced out through resignation. Mbonu we gathered was becoming too powerful and Ifie feared that Shareholders may prevail on the Board of Directors to appoint him as the MD, especially with his brilliant manner through which he led his former Societe General Bank to be taken over by IEI Investment limited, as well as having the backing of his godfather, Bukola Saraki.

Sources who spoke with our medium said, he has never gotten alert on his account since he opened his heritage account, despite filling their sms alert forms severally, another source said, their mobile application has never been active, with one excuse or the other arising from poor network and others.

Top sources in the bank informed Secret Reporters that, the bank do not even have a stated target, as they give their marketers indiscriminate targets to meet. “You may be asked today to bring 100 million, tomorrow, they will say you should bring 50 million, which failure to hit that target one may be axed from the job. If you can only promise to keep my name out and also let Nigerians know what is happening there, I will give you guys full details of the fraud in that bank”, our top source told our reporter.

Some of the female workers in the bank were recently sacked by the bank following their inability to meet the outrageous target set by the management.

Frustrated customers revealed that one of the major challenges in the bank is their inability to network among each other. A complaint made in Asaba branch of the bank in Nnebisi Road could not be attended to, despite the bank claiming to have sent the request to the Headquarters. A similar complaint made in Ikot Ekpene Branch, Uyo which could not be resolved for ten days due to network failure led to a top client closing down his account
These poor services in heritage bank are a tip of the ice berg, as the bank has advanced into a fraud system of defrauding even the Federal government.

All efforts to reach the Group Head, Corporate Affairs of the bank proved abortive as he didnt pick his call when our reporter called him