Kano — The Kano State Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has apprehended a female banker, Mrs. Asmau Gaanda, (40), a staff of Afribank Plc, for an alleged illegal withdrawal of customers' money amounting to over N44.5 million.

The woman, who has worked in three branches of the bank within Kano, at different times, allegedly collaborated with bank officials and accomplices, who are also customers of the same bank, to perpetrate the crime.

A statement signed by the Kano EFCC Media Officer, Aroyehun Gbenga, said the illegal withdrawals were made over a peroid of time in a space of years without being detected.

The statement stated that "the accused used various methods, sometimes acted single-handedly and at other times in collusion with other key staff to defraud the bank and many customers. She fraudulently credited the accounts of customers without physical cash backing. This is known in the industry as dry posting."

The anti-graft commission named Mrs. Gaanda's alleged partners in the crime to include Umar Garki, Maigari Barde Adamu and Maikudu Abba, all businessmen based in Kano.

She was also said to have confessed to the EFCC that about nine other Afribank customers whose names she could not disclose as at press time were involved in the dubious deals.

The EFCC statement stated: "She (Mrs. Gaanda) took advantage of the negligence of other co-workers to make withdrawals as in the case with a corporate company called Deepak Lalwani with account number 0580806756421. She fraudulently withdrew N1.6 million on the 1228.

She confessed to have tampered with several other customers' deposits, either alone or in collusion with other suspects."

According to the EFCC, Mrs. Gaanda said she gave an unknown Malam a whopping sum of N13 million, which as she stated, were withdrawn through seven account numbers

"All these accounts were opened at the Kantin Kwari market in Kano and the suspect was the Head of Traffic, a position that gave her the opportunity to open those accounts and withdrew money from them," the EFCC said.

It was learnt that the alleged fraudulent banker, before her sins came in the open, was much respected among the ranks and file of Afribank in Kano as she was said to be a very generous woman.

The Commission said it would soon charge Mrs. Gaanda to court for conspiracy, theft, forgery and obtaining money by false pretence.