KCB fires 13 staff accused of fraud

KCB Group #ticker:KCB, Kenya’s biggest bank by assets, last year sacked 13 employees accused of fraud.

The number was a slight increase compared to the 10 staff fired in 2018 for abetting fraud — which led to the loss of an undisclosed amount of cash

The bank said it implemented an automated fraud management system in 2019 to minimise losses by detecting fraud on a timely basis across banking channels, processing large volumes of data at high speeds, being able to identify and act on new unusual behaviour and increase operational efficiency by augmenting fraud investigation efforts. “We built in mandatory checks into our processes/operations as fraud prevention measures,” said the bank. “There is (also) a management level disciplinary committee, which decides on the consequences for cases depending on their severity.”

KCB dismissed 34 employees accused of fraud and professional negligence in 2017, 31 in 2016, 33 staff in 2015 and about 90 employees in 2014 — highlighting a general decrease over the years in the number of bankers sent home for stealing cash or conning customers amid system improvement and prevention efforts.

The bank, however, said there were 689 unsuccessful internal fraud attempts last year compared to 319 in 2018.

KCB has adopted the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners definition of fraud as being all those activities involving “dishonesty and deception that can drain value from a business, directly or indirectly, whether or not there is personal benefit”.

KCB was among five banks fined by the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji to avoid being prosecuted for failing to report suspicious transactions linked with the theft of funds at the National Youth Service. Equity Bank #ticker:EQTY paid Sh120 million while Standard Chartered #ticker:SCBK, Diamond Trust #ticker:DTK, KCB, and Co-operative Bank #ticker:COOP paid Sh100 million, Sh80 million, Sh60 million and Sh25 million respectively.