A worrying trend has emerged in Ghana’s banking sector, with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) reporting a 46% increase in bank staff involvement in fraudulent activities. According to the BoG’s 2023 Fraud Report, the number of bank employees implicated in fraud rose from 188 in 2022 to 274 in 2023, highlighting growing concerns over internal security breaches.
Cash theft, also known as “cash suppression,” accounted for 77% of fraud cases, with Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) being the most vulnerable. Employee-related fraud at SDIs saw a sharp 98% increase, leading to a loss of GH¢8.7 million in 2023 alone.
The financial impact of fraud has been significant, with total fraud-related losses for banks reaching GH¢63 million in 2023, up 21% from GH¢52 million in the previous year. One of the largest incidents involved the theft of USD 466,000 from a universal bank, underscoring the potential for substantial losses when internal controls fail.
Beyond cash theft, bank employees have been implicated in unauthorized withdrawals from customer accounts and document manipulation. Fraudulent withdrawals ranked among the top five fraud types, resulting in GH¢8.4 million in losses in 2023. This points to increasing sophistication in internal fraud schemes and weaknesses in existing security measures.
While forgery-related fraud dropped by 78% in 2023, it still resulted in significant losses of GH¢6.9 million. Employees exploited their access to sensitive financial systems by altering or forging documents for personal gain, further exposing vulnerabilities within the sector.
