BANK FRAUD AND ITS EFFECT ON BANK PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Fraud is an epidemic dimension that has eaten deep into the banking sector as well as the entire economy. Its devastating effect manifests itself in the deteriorating balance sheet of banks as well as in economic backwardness. As a result, measures to eradicate fraud in banking sector become a central focus of the government and the monetary authorities. It was against this backdrop that this study was aimed at providing empirical evidence on the effect of fraud on performance of banks. Data for the analyses were obtained from primary data through questionnaires and secondary data from Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Annual Report. Four hypotheses were formulated to access the impact of looting of fund, social and environmental factors, motivation and government effort on effect of fraud on banks performance in Nigeria. These were tested with simple percentages and chi-square (x²) statistical technique at 5% significance level. Results showed that lack of adequate motivation is not a major cause of fraud in banks, looting of fund by bank managers and directors constitutes the major form of fraud in Nigeria, government effort and its agencies have negatively impacted on combating fraud in Nigeria and environmental or social factors have negative impact on bank fraud. On the basis of findings, it is recommended that government should make their impact to be felt in combating fraud by establishing more agencies for combating frauds. Those managers and director involved in looting of fund should be persecuted to serve as a deterrent to subsequently once. In addition, bank staff should be properly screened to test their morality and integrity before recruitment. Adequate internal control system should also be establish to have check and balances among bank staff. It is envisaged that if all these are put in place, fraud will be reduced to its barest minimum thereby restoring confidence to bank customers.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 1.1: BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The significance of the banking sector in any country stems from its role of financial mobilization from surplus to deficit unit, provision of a competent payment system and facilitation of the implementation of monetary policies. In intermediation, banks mobilize savings from the surplus units of the economy and channel these funds to the deficit unit, particularly private business enterprises, for the purposes of expanding their productive capacity.

The banking sector has become one of the most critical sectors in the economy with wide effect on the level and direction of economic growth and transformation and on such economic variables as the rate of unemployment and inflation which directly affect the lives of our people. Today, the very integrity and survivability of these laudable functions of Nigerian banks have been deteriorated in view of incessant frauds and accounting scandals.

Fraud however has been defined by many scholars Olufidipe (1994) defined trick deliberately practiced in order to gain some advantag (1991), fraud is described as „any premeditat a person or group of persons with the intention of altering facts in order to obtain undue personal onetary advantage‟. Another scholar Idowu (2 camouflage, or exclusion of the truth for the purpose of dishonesty/stage management to the financial damage of an individual or an organization. Going by the definition of the chambers universal learners dictionary Kirkpatrick (1985) define fraud as any person who pretends to be something that he is not is a fraud, a snare, a deceptive, trick, cheat and a swindler.

Having explained what fraud is, it is pertinent to define bank fraud which is the subject matter of this study; however bank fraud is the use of fraudulent means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently representing to be a bank or financial institution. For an action to constitute fraud there must be a dishonest intention and the action must be intended to benefit the perpetrators to the detriment of another person.

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