Barclays lauds arrest of fraudster; pledges compliance with police

Barclays Bank Ghana has hailed the arrest of the confidence trickster who was caught on CCT camera duping a school boy in the Bank's Osu branch.

Citi Business News sources in the Police service say the suspect is currently in custody in Ashaiman but will be transferred to the Osu Police station for investigations on the Barclays Bank incident.

According to initial reports, the suspect was attempting to dupe another person in another bank when one of the customers recognized him from the CCTV footage which went viral after citifmonline.com published it.

In an interview with Citi Business News, communications Manager of Barclays Ghana, Cyril Nai pledged the bank's commitment and corporation to assist the police in the matter.

“We are glad the alleged fraudster has been apprehended by the police. We are very excited and we will continue to corporate with the police in their investigations…we will continue to give them all the support they need until the case is brought to an end,” he stated.

The fraudster was initially caught earlier this year on camera,  swindling a JHS student who had been sent to make deposits at one of the Osu branches of Barclays bank.

He duped his victim of 3,700 cedis at the time.
The Bank however indicated it could not be held liable to refund the money to the victim.

Cyril Nai explained the decision was taken since the amount did not also end up with any of their cashiers.

“We are not liable at this point because the money was not paid to a staff member; it went into a third party who has nothing to do with a bank,” he observed.

He further intimated, “In such situation, we can't pay because how do you prove that the person who took the money from the customer, there wasn't any connivance?”

Meanwhile Barclays bank says it will continue to educate its clients on safety practices.

Cyril Nai assures that the bank will also be committed to protect the funds and avert a recurrence of the incident.

“We are continuing with our education with our customers to make sure that the bank is safe so that they are also secured,”

“We will continue to work to guarantee the safety of our customers and their funds whilst we continue to advise our customers as well as on how they can bank safely and ensure that some of these things can be prevented,” Cyril Nai further stated.

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By: Vivian Kai Lokko/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana