Senator Tabitha Mutinda asks for a probe into runaway bank fraud in Kenya by bank officials

 

 Nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda 

The nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda has requested a presentation on the allegations of illicit practices involving client accounts at several Kenyan banks. The statement is requested from the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Budget.

On February 22, 2023, Mutinda stood up in the legislature to request an explanation.

She claimed that she had been contacted by several clients who had lost money as a result of unauthorised transactions from their savings accounts at various financial institutions.

She talked about Marion Nyambura Karanja, whose account at Equity Bank's Gikomba Branch was wiped out of over KES 700,000, and Matthew Mathia, whose retirement funds were used to pay for a loan that was illegally taken against his account at Equity Bank's Limuru Branch. She also talked about many other similar cases that happened at Equity Bank's branches in Uganda.

She asked the panel to look into the accusations and show what the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of different banks, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), and the Head of the Banking Fraud Investigations Department (BFID) have done to stop operations that make banks' safety systems look bad.

She also requested that the panel explain the steps taken, if any, by banks in the past regarding various charges to ensure that consumers who may have had their money stolen through unscrupulous operations were compensated.

When Equity Bank customers noticed that money was going missing from their accounts, they reportedly took to social media to complain about the bank.

Customers of Equity Bank were reassured that their worries about fraud had been taken care of in the right way.

In a statement released on February 4, the bank said that customers who were unhappy with the service could call 0763 000 000 or contact the bank through its verified social media sites.

A part of the statement says, "Even though we can't share customer information or specifics, we do want to make it clear that the reported incidents have been taken care of properly."

Customers of the bank complained on Twitter all week that they couldn't get money out of their accounts. This made the issue of the bank explode into the public's mind.

Equity said that it has been putting money into technology safety measures and staying committed to protecting customer accounts at the same time.

According to what was said in the document, "We continue to invest in technology and other safety measures to guarantee that the bank is a safe and secure location for all of our client's assets and transactions."

The bank told its customers to watch out for fraud and to use the phone number 0763000000 for all interactions with the bank.

Also, it warned users not to give out their personal information, such as their ID number, date of birth, PIN, password, or one-time password (OTP) number, to other people.

"Do not utilise public Wi-Fi to accomplish your online banking or banking on your mobile device," Equity emphasised further.

Clients are also advised not to click on any strange links sent to them or to give anyone else access to their Banking App or SIM card.

The bank encouraged customers to "report any questionable number or SMS line for free by calling 333."