When you don't know about operations it is better you don't speak about it so that you don't make a fool of your self like EFCC just did.

Some years ago banks were stopped by the Central bank for engaging in CIT movement. CIT means cash in transit. CNN licensed some CIT companies to take up this responsibilities from banks to enhance safety in cash movement and standardized the CIT operations in Nigeria. BANKERS WAREHOUSE is one of the CIT companies licensed by Central Bank who has been doing the movement for almost all the banks in Nigeria, moving cash from all location to the destination of the banks. These funds are customers funds deposited into their accounts.

Bankers Warehouse was only doing their legitimate work as licienced by the Central Bank which is in line with the law of the country.

Why is union bank moving the cash from Enugu? Union bank has excess dollars in Enugu and the dollars is needed in another location of deficit. By Law BWL can move the cash from any location in the country to another location for any bank in Nigeria so long as the bank is registered with Bankers WAREHOUSE.

Where EFCC aired.

24 hours is not enough before rushing to press. Did the EFCC contact the banks M.D. before doing this? Did EFCC contact the M.D. of Bankers Ware House before rushing to press? Did they contact the head of Cash Management of union bank in Lagos? Did they invite any management of union bank and bankers were house for questioning before rushing to press?

Bankers WAREHOUSE followed due procedure as laid down by the Central Bank of Nigeria in the process of cash movement. EFCC should have exhausted all means at getting to the various stake holders rushing to press.

Some months ago DSS did same thing to some banks by seizing their dollars of $2M and above also conveyed buy BANKKERS WAREHOUSE at Abuja Airport and they did not rush to presss. They did their investigation and even discovered the cash was customers cash deposited at the bank. After investigation the cash was released to the banks and the world did not hear.

PLEASE DON'T KILL BUSINESS FOR CIT COMPANIES AND DON'T EXPOSE THEIR STAFF TO RISK. INVESTIGATE PROPERLY BEFORE GOING TO PRESS.

WaffenSS:


Little coward punk

You think I'm afraid of your overlords?

Unlike you I don't live in this stupid trash called Nairaland. There's a productive life out there, which you know nothing about, being a lazy jobless pig.

You want some relief?

Here, lemme help you get me banned:

Fukk seun, lalasticlala, mynd44 and everyone else who's got your back

Oga shut up ,there is nothing in life you have achieved more than me neither do you make more money than I do so keep quiet please .

seunmsg:
There is more to this story than what Union bank is disclosing. EFCC officials are not fools, they won’t have arrested the guys and make it public if there is nothing suspicious about the movement. I suspect the money was been laundered by the bank for a particular politician. There is a law that requires all travelers to disclose cash that is above $10k; did they disclose the cash before boarding the flight? I will wait for further disclosures from EFCC before taking a categorical position.

Bro, all men of Nigerian uniform parastatals are I'll trained, police, army, navy, customs even road safety. Ordinary common sense tells you that 24hrs is too soon to release details of such magnitude without reaching a certain level of investigation

ImperialYoruba:


It's a tactic, an old one used in crime investigation.

Sometimes police has already arrested a suspect they are looking for in a crime. They have the suspect securely locked up in their custody. But there is a piece of vital information missing and he is not revealing the info voluntarily. So they will attempt to get it involuntarily.

One of the methods used is to first setup a surveillance. Then issue a WANTED PERSON bulletin for the suspect and publish it. Those who have anything to do with the crime or have info about it will change their normal routine to not attract attention. Some will begin looking for the suspect themselves trying to kill him before oolice can get him. In all these chaos and jittery many more people that were not under suspicion before will walk straight into the surveillance and get trapped and snatched to extract the missing info.

EFCC already have substantial info but need UNION to corroborate. Union did not cooperate. When EFCC went public you see what happened, right? Union became jittery and started talking, claiming they own the money.

Intelligent analysis up there bro, but truth is in this particular case EFCC have a lot of options to verify the suspects claim before going public, did they at any time notify CBN, BW or Union bank itself before doing what they did apart from the emotional trauma those guys must have gone through they may not be able to work with BW again. I feel there is more to this funny show of shame by EFCC

blackky100:
When you don't know about operations it is better you don't speak about it so that you don't make a fool of your self like EFCC just did.

Some years ago banks were stopped by the Central bank for engaging in CIT movement. CIT means cash in transit. CNN licensed some CIT companies to take up this responsibilities from banks to enhance safety in cash movement and standardized the CIT operations in Nigeria. BANKERS WAREHOUSE is one of the CIT companies licensed by Central Bank who has been doing the movement for almost all the banks in Nigeria, moving cash from all location to the destination of the banks. These funds are customers funds deposited into their accounts.

Bankers Warehouse was only doing their legitimate work as licienced by the Central Bank which is in line with the law of the country.

Why is union bank moving the cash from Enugu? Union bank has excess dollars in Enugu and the dollars is needed in another location of deficit. By Law BWL can move the cash from any location in the country to another location for any bank in Nigeria so long as the bank is registered with Bankers WAREHOUSE.

Where EFCC aired.

24 hours is not enough before rushing to press. Did the EFCC contact the banks M.D. before doing this? Did EFCC contact the M.D. of Bankers Ware House before rushing to press? Did they contact the head of Cash Management of union bank in Lagos? Did they invite any management of union bank and bankers were house for questioning before rushing to press?

Bankers WAREHOUSE followed due procedure as laid down by the Central Bank of Nigeria in the process of cash movement. EFCC should have exhausted all means at getting to the various stake holders rushing to press.

Some months ago DSS did same thing to some banks by seizing their dollars of $2M and above also conveyed buy BANKKERS WAREHOUSE at Abuja Airport and they did not rush to presss. They did their investigation and even discovered the cash was customers cash deposited at the bank. After investigation the cash was released to the banks and the world did not hear.

PLEASE DON'T KILL BUSINESS FOR CIT COMPANIES AND DON'T EXPOSE THEIR STAFF TO RISK. INVESTIGATE PROPERLY BEFORE GOING TO PRESS.

Nice analysis Chief, you don't need to be a genius to know that what EFCC did was wrong am sure if this happened in normal clime EFCC would have been sanctioned.

dominusgai:


OK, first of all, in the trade of insult, you cannot win me, so I will notify you not to insult me again. Secondly, don't try to bring other cases into this, we are talking about this one. Thirdly don't try to make this political, we will be here all day.

Now to answer your statement, it is 1 billion naira, no investigation of one billion naira is done in 24 hrs.
Two, I am not arguing the standard procedure, I am saying with the pressure of the season, it will most likely be shifted to a time of lower pressure like Saturday. Also, with these kind of investigation, mails are the official channel of communication. EFCC aught to have sent a mail and waited for confirmation. And believe me, efcc have mails of all bank branches.

Thirdly, there are EFCC agents everywhere, if the calls where not being answered, it is an issue of sending one or two agents to the bank for confirmation.

They should have waited till Monday.

They dont need to wait till Monday.

Every bank has a fraud investigation unit. Are you aware of this? If not Im letting you know they do.

EFCC has the contact to every bank operations under the jurisdiction of CBN. Are you also aware of this?

Every bank's investigative unit is considered an independent department that reports up to the executive of the bank...and not to the branch manager. In other words they do not work for the branch manager of a bank.

When EFCC sends a investigation query it goes to the Bank's Operations Hq and where the investigative unit usually have its staff.

Responses to EFCC will originate from the Operations back to EFCC. That's one line of correspondence.

There is a second line of correspondence, between the Head of Operations and the Director of Investigation Unit.

The Director opens a line of communication with the affected Branch Unit Manager. Thats the third one.

The Head of Operations will acknowledge back to EFCC that their letter was received and a review is underway, and they should expect an update back within a timeframe. In this letter the H of OPs will ask for consideration in view of the holidays and off season schedules.

When the Director gets response back from Branch it is communicated to Head of Ops who must invite the Head of Legal in and share the EFCC inquiry and the response back from Branch Mngr.

Once Legal is involved, all communications from that point forward is between Legal and EFCC.

Legal will be using Investigative unit to do field inspection and tests and using the results to frame a position of the bank.

This is the procedural standard.

On the issue of what has happened, the bank breached the procedure. Twice!

1. They did not acknowledge EFCC inquiry.

2. They did not offer a legal correspondence back to EFCC. Instead they used their media dept to do PR job.

adelacuna:

Intelligent analysis up there bro, but truth is in this particular case EFCC have a lot of options to verify the suspects claim before going public, did they at any time notify CBN, BW or Union bank itself before doing what they did apart from the emotional trauma those guys must have gone through they may not be able to work with BW again. I feel there is more to this funny show of shame by EFCC

We can only go by what each side said.

EFCC said they sent queries.
Union did not deny it but said the money is legitimate.

These are the two knowns. However procedures are breached invthe way Union handled it.

They have the burden of proof, not EFCC.

dominusgai:


First of all sir, your second to last statement is false. Secondly, bullion van is usually inter city, not inter country. Thirdly, this is dollars, not naira. The amount of dollars in circulation is finite. Outside Lagos, I am fairly certain no other Yoruba state can raise 28 million dollars as they simply do not have the type of business to generate that amount within a short time.
Enugu does, as it is an industrious state.
So I need 28 million dollars, within a short time, I have it in my other branch and I want to transfer it by air. It is done regularly.
Finally, the banker's warehouse can and does transfer money from bank to bank. In fact in recent times all banks no longer transfer their money themselves, hence you see they no longer own bullion vans. It is the banker's warehouse that does all physical transfer of cash

I said they move money local. You said its wrong but they move money intra.


Please go back to hawking gala in traffic.

Purposeciti:


efcc isn't as independent as it was under Jonathan.

There wasn't EFCC under Jonathan

adelacuna:

Intelligent analysis up there bro, but truth is in this particular case EFCC have a lot of options to verify the suspects claim before going public, did they at any time notify CBN, BW or Union bank itself before doing what they did apart from the emotional trauma those guys must have gone through they may not be able to work with BW again. I feel there is more to this funny show of shame by EFCC

Funny. You're asking silly questions without reading the report up there. Buhari indirectly called you guys lazy asss and you were banging your heads against rocks.

ImperialYoruba:


We can only go by what each side said.

EFCC said they sent queries.
Union did not deny it but said the money is legitimate.

These are the two knowns. However procedures are breached invthe way Union handled it.

They have the burden of proof, not EFCC.

Interested are you sure EFCC did utilize all options and by the way 24 hours is such a short time to go live.

adelacuna:

Interested are you sure EFCC did utilize all options and by the way 24 hours is such a short time to go live.

I responded to this earlier but will emphasize here again.

We dont know the truth. We can only make assessment of what each side has published.

If you are EFCC and im Head of Ops in a bank and receive letter from you, or even a phone call....im jumping on it right away and will respond to let you know i got your letter or phone call or whatever and we will look into your concern.

Maybe in the past people fvckd with EFCC and didnt even read its letters before thrashing it. Those times are past! Anyone getting EFCC contact these days and treating it nonchallantly has himself to blame.

At least tell them you got it...detailed response will come after review. Shikena! . That doesnt take 24hrs to do.

ImperialYoruba:


They dont need to wait till Monday.

Every bank has a fraud investigation unit. Are you aware of this? If not Im letting you know they do.

EFCC has the contact to every bank operations under the jurisdiction of CBN. Are you also aware of this?

Every bank's investigative unit is considered an independent department that reports up to the executive of the bank...and not to the branch manager. In other words they do not work for the branch manager of a bank.

When EFCC sends a investigation query it goes to the Bank's Operations Hq and where the investigative unit usually have its staff.

Responses to EFCC will originate from the Operations back to EFCC. That's one line of correspondence.

There is a second line of correspondence, between the Head of Operations and the Director of Investigation Unit.

The Director opens a line of communication with the affected Branch Unit Manager. Thats the third one.

The Head of Operations will acknowledge back to EFCC that their letter was received and a review is underway, and they should expect an update back within a timeframe. In this letter the H of OPs will ask for consideration in view of the holidays and off season schedules.

When the Director gets response back from Branch it is communicated to Head of Ops who must invite the Head of Legal in and share the EFCC inquiry and the response back from Branch Mngr.

Once Legal is involved, all communications from that point forward is between Legal and EFCC.

Legal will be using Investigative unit to do field inspection and tests and using the results to frame a position of the bank.

This is the procedural standard.

On the issue of what has happened, the bank breached the procedure. Twice!

1. They did not acknowledge EFCC inquiry.

2. They did not offer a legal correspondence back to EFCC. Instead they used their media dept to do PR job.

That is what I am saying. All these correspondence you said is done via email, not calls. The report said EFCC tried calling, not emailing them. Calling is not an appropriate means of communication for this kind of issues.
If EFCC have emailed the query rather than called I believe they would have been responded to. Mind you anyone can place a call claiming they are from EFCC. But they both have each others official email.

Secondly, can you tell me the process you listed can be fully completed on a festive Friday 9 hour work shift?

maasoap:


Funny. You're asking silly questions without reading the report up there. Buhari indirectly called you guys lazy asss and you were banging your heads against rocks.

I beg your pardon don't come here to start showing how asinine you are if you don't have any intelligent thing to say just keep shut and don't ever quote me.

ImperialYoruba:


I responded to this earlier but will emphasize here again.

We dont know the truth. We can only make assessment of what each side has published.

If you are EFCC and im Head of Ops in a bank and receive letter from you, or even a phone call....im jumping on it right away and will respond to let you know i got your letter or phone call or whatever and we will look into your concern.

Maybe in the past people fvckd with EFCC and didnt even read its letters before thrashing it. Those times are past! Anyone getting EFCC contact these days and treating it nonchallantly has himself to blame.

At least tell them you got it...detailed response will come after review. Shikena! . That doesnt take 24hrs to do.

Thanks chief I appreciate your calm and intelligent explanation.

dominusgai:


That is what I am saying. All these correspondence you said is done via email, not calls. The report said EFCC tried calling, not emailing them. Calling is not an appropriate means of communication for this kind of issues.
If EFCC have emailed the query rather than called I believe they would have been responded to. Mind you anyone can place a call claiming they are from EFCC. But they both have each others official email.

Secondly, can you tell me the process you listed can be fully completed on a festive Friday 9 hour work shift?

Calling is not the best way to begin investigation. It is not an unacceptable means of contact.

The bank did not deny it was contacted. This is key!

So why did it not respond via call also?

adelacuna:

Thanks chief I appreciate your calm and intelligent explanation.

Yes sir! God bless you!

dominusgai:


That is what I am saying. All these correspondence you said is done via email, not calls. The report said EFCC tried calling, not emailing them. Calling is not an appropriate means of communication for this kind of issues.
If EFCC have emailed the query rather than called I believe they would have been responded to. Mind you anyone can place a call claiming they are from EFCC. But they both have each others official email.

Secondly, can you tell me the process you listed can be fully completed on a festive Friday 9 hour work shift?

It can be completed in 5mins.


I work in Corporate and have dealt thoroughly with the issue of communication and its value to building relationships and influencing your opponents to support your position beyond themselves.

Take weapon out of your opponents hands. You can do it effectively with communication. Union bungled the opportunity....but, its not too late to recover from it.

I would advise they desist from issuing any more public statement and return the contacts to its standard procedure. Get Legal in so they can do their job and resolve with EFCC.

WaffenSS:


What's hasty, reporting that a huge stash of foreign currency was nabbed from 2 people who clearly do not own the money and whose story doesn't really jive?

I like to live in a society where suspicious acts are made news.

You people are just backward and belong to the stone age

What is suspicious in their act?

What they were doing is legal and standard in the industry and they tendered their ID cards when asked.

They are also licensed by CBN to engaged in the activity. Even when EFCC could not reach Union bank, which is a third party company immediately...they would have at least reach CBN who is a sister agency and should be working hand-to-hand with them.

FYI, no matter how unseemly it might seem; someone engaging in a lawful activity can’t been deemed suspicious.

Also, even if you see someone engaging in suspicious activity, that is not enough to detain them and publicly label them as criminal...the last time I checked there is no law against ‘suspicious activity’ in the Nigeria criminal code.

EFCC would have still monitor and conduct their investigation without the public show of shame and only act, when they have articulated believe that a crime is either been committed or about to be committed.

These guys are doing some good work, but they need more training on how to do their job ethically and professionally.

Lush100:


I am surprised . this is Christmas. Efcc should have concluded investigation before u come out to post this trash info in public.
I work in an associate job in conjunction with cash in transit.
there is nothing wrong.
as far as their identities were known and the organization they work for were stated.
for carrying out loud, they could easily have contacted Union bank and CBN warehouse.
do u expect the bank to announce that they are moving money. especially foreign currency.

for the past 2weeks my office have been moving 1 billion naira every week across state.
but for foreign currency is especially risky to let any one know even police because its size is small but the value is high.

Reread my post I said the same thing before u

ImperialYoruba:


It can be completed in 5mins.


I work in Corporate and have dealt thoroughly with the issue of communication and its value to building relationships and influencing your opponents to support your position beyond themselves.

Take weapon out of your opponents hands. You can do it effectively with communication. Union bungled the opportunity....but, its not too late to recover from it.

I would advise they desist from issuing any more public statement and return the contacts to its standard procedure. Get Legal in so they can do their job and resolve with EFCC.

Chairman 5 minutes is not possible, it will take at least 24 hours. I just consulted with a banker now. He told me before they can reply a mail from efcc would take at least 2 working days.

WaffenSS:


What's hasty, reporting that a huge stash of foreign currency was nabbed from 2 people who clearly do not own the money and whose story doesn't really jive?

I like to live in a society where suspicious acts are made news.

You people are just backward and belong to the stone age

how is that suspicious... banks move money like that all the time.. all EFCC has done is to make these carriers susceptible to robbery.. they try to be as surreptitious as possible.. the mere mention of Union bank and bankers warehouse should have made the Efcc tread with more caution and atleast kept the arrest under wraps till the men's claims are substantiates or proven wrong

Banks transport money by air. Usually above normal limits. But ALWAYS with the right paper work!

dominusgai:


Actually sir, it doesn't. Unless you have not boarded a flight before, you should know that in an airport, an armed guard will make you noticeable. But a man carrying a brief case is one in a crowd. Also, unlike the car park, the number of touts inside an airport is greatly reduced. I can guarantee that if you snatch a bag inside an airport you will not get to the gate. All the cars parked in the airport are registered with the airport.

It is also almost impossible to rob a plane first of all. To do it without being traceable is outright impossible.

I see your point but still insist folks like the pant bomber don’t care if they die pushing their agenda!

WaffenSS:


What's hasty, reporting that a huge stash of foreign currency was nabbed from 2 people who clearly do not own the money and whose story doesn't really jive?

I like to live in a society where suspicious acts are made news.

You people are just backward and belong to the stone age

. Go and check the meaning of " cash-on-transit"? EFCC is too overzealous. They want to gain cheap applause. That is how our military is. They disclose vital information and strategies to the public all in the name of seeking public attention and the terrorists will capitalise on the information to get them. They should investigate properly before going to the press.

This suspects..... Did they declared the consignment with relevant documents?
Do they need to personally accompany the consignments?
Why 2 of them?, when one person could carry the consignments.
What could be fishy that warrant the news in the first place?

I read everyone's comments and I appreciate people's perspective to this issue.

I will not castigate any response, but before I pen down my take on this matter, I would like to say that our responses to issues like this should he devoid of an form of bias and vendetta.

1. That a firm or organisation is licensed to do something doesn't mean they cannot flout the laws that guide the activity. While it is not illegal to move money, moreso that Bankers warehouse is a licensed CIT, did they ensure that the law is followed to the letters?
2. We do not know what had happened in the background, so to say EFCC was hasty would be unfair.
3. I am a learner in financial crime law and in how CBN relates with commercial bank. But I think, Union Bank in Enugu could have taken the Dollars to CBN Enugu. CBN credits their position . Union bank Lagos can withdraw this cash from CBN Lagos. I don't know if they operate like this, but if this is possible and Union bank did not explore this option, then the movement, hence the purpose of such funds is questionable.
4. Again, for Union Bank to come out publicly to claim this money, I do not suspect anything shady, only that some laws may have been flouted, or maybe, an insider tipped EFCC about this movement, then it is suspicious.

I will conclude by saying, all parties could have been more diplomatic about this. The "hastiness" of EFCC, the lackadaisical attitude of Union bank when EFCC tried to reach them.

Let's see how things unfold. But there is more to this than meets the eye.

lexy2014:

If d bank allows its staff to carry d cash without using bullion van, who are we to question. If d bank&bankers warehouse took responsibility, then it shows approval was obtained at d highest level

Guys when will u comprehend what u read? Under the money laundering act, it is illegal to carry such huge amount without declaring to the relevant agency irrespective of who owns it, period. Pls stop with the what ifs

My Dear, I understand your explanation perfectly but you failed to state clearly how the Union bank will do that CASH transfer from Lagos to their branch in the East. In Bonny Island Rivers State, the only option to transfer cash from bank to bank is by Air or Sea, the safest option is air because one hours journey on the see is not safe, do this also violates financial crime law? The truth is that EFCC likes rushing to the press to score a cheap political point if not they could have done due diligence to before airing it.

ImperialYoruba:


My brother, dont let them deceive you with sweet sounding terms. In case you dont know what Bankers Warehouse is its a operator of bullion vehicles. Simple! Dont let these thieves use razzmatazz words to bamboozle you.

When a large amount of money needs to transfer from one local point to another you use bullion vehicles to do the job.

Typically they are means of transporting money between banks and retail points, never between a bank to another bank.

Assuming Union bank Lagos is transferring money from its bank to retail points in East. It will transfer the money to its branch in East and from the branch bullion vehicle will deposit to the merchants.


Union Lagos transferring money via bullion couriers to East through the air is already a violation of financial crime laws.

I hope you now understand the process better than the bullshyyte offered by Union using big words to pull a smokescreen over people eyes.

safetyInspector:
My Dear, I understand your explanation perfectly but you failed to state clearly how the Union bank will do that CASH transfer from Lagos to their branch in the East. In Bonny Island Rivers State, the only option to transfer cash from bank to bank is by Air or Sea, the safest option is air because one hours journey on the see is not safe, do this also violates financial crime law? The truth is that EFCC likes rushing to the press to score a cheap political point if not they could have done due diligence to before airing it.

Ok. Legally, there is only one Union Bank. By this I mean if you look in CAC records for registration of business name you will find one Union bank Corporation.

In any legal or financial matter that one Corporation is the entity with ownership and accountability.

For ease of reaching into the corners of every market they set up branches in different places.

Union Bank Bonny Island, Union Bank Afikpo, all send their balance sheets to the HQ.

If HQ Lagos wants to send 5billion Naira to Bonny it wires to CBN Lagos. CBN Lagos wires to CBN Rivers. CBN rivers deliver 5bn to Union Bank Bonny.

This is called CLEARINGHOUSE function.

If there is a bank out there today sending 5bn by air between branches people should raise alarm and get it to stop. Its a bad practice.

dominusgai:


Chairman 5 minutes is not possible, it will take at least 24 hours. I just consulted with a banker now. He told me before they can reply a mail from efcc would take at least 2 working days.

I dont care if you consult with CBN Governor.

There is a reason GTB is very popular . Their accounting standards is superior. Even foreing companies and embassies use them.

I bank with them. I sent a query to clarify something in my account before I left work. I received two alerts by time I got home. The first was to confirm receipt of my query, the second was a request for me to come in and positively identify before they can share the information. They told me what to bring for identification and what location to go and who to see.

Professional, customer focus, security minded, willing to help.