Customer’s missing millions… Trinidadian expert arrives for bank fraud probe

Sep 30, 2008 News

A fraud investigator from Trinidad has arrived in the country to assist in tracking down the persons involved in a scam that has led to the disappearance of millions of dollars from a foreign-based commercial bank.
Kaieteur News was told that the investigator took statements from bank officials as well as from the Guyanese customer who was defrauded of his savings.
The customer said that he was told that the expert will update him on the progress of the investigation.  
The scam was discovered two Fridays ago at one of the bank’s Georgetown branches, and there are reports that other irregularities have been unearthed in the bank’s loans department.
The persons involved in the scam reportedly forged documents which indicated that the customer had taken a loan amounting to over $9M, a sum exceeding the sum he had in his fixed account.
The customer had explained that a large sum of cash was wired to his bank account from overseas some months ago.
He withdrew some of the cash, and left $8 million in a fixed account.
According to the customer, he became concerned about his deposit in the wake of the recent collapse of several banks in the United States.
When he visited the bank two Fridays ago, an official informed him that he had taken a large loan that exceeded his deposit in the bank.
He said that the officials even showed him forms which he had allegedly signed for the transaction.
He, naturally, insisted that he never took a loan and that the signatures were not his.
According to the customer, he was told that the cash was withdrawn in two installments, and that one installment was made out in the name of a cambio establishment.
Kaieteur News was told that the persons who took the loan in his name have already begun to repay it.
His account has been frozen until the investigation is concluded.