First Bank the major bank subsidiary of FBN Holdings sacked over 100 employees in July 2024, four months after discovering that Tijani Muiz Adeyinka, a manager on the operations team, allegedly diverted ₦40 billion over two years.
Adeyinka, who is still on the run, used his authorisation to approve chargebacks to accounts he controlled.
Two people with direct knowledge of the matter claimed that at least 120 employees, including full-time and contract staff of First Bank’s large operations department, were given termination letters in July. The head of transactions at the time was also fired.
Those employees were accused of laxity in carrying out their duties and were told they should have spotted the fraud earlier. First Bank’s management team believed it was impossible for a fraud of that scale and timeline to have been executed without the knowledge of Adeyinka’s superiors.
When the incident was discovered in March, the bank tried to keep the matter under wraps, suspending several operations team members indefinitely. However, First Bank became more aggressive after the fraud became public.
Several employees were questioned by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and detained at the Lion’s Building for at least six hours, one person with direct knowledge of the incident said. Those employees needed to post bail before they were released. Restrictions have been placed on all their personal accounts except their First Bank accounts.
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