One of the affected customers, Oyeyemi Oluwatobi, a paint manufacturer and housing exterior decorator, whose account with GTBank got hacked, lost his entire savings to some yet-to-be-identified fraudsters.

According to Oluwatobi, no less than N700,000 was withdrawn from his account without his authorisation.

The father of two said he first experienced a debit of N450,000 and transferred to one Ojo Jeremiah account held in Sparkle Bank, while N249,900 was transferred to a Sporty Internet Limited account within minutes on Saturday, January 22, 2022.

It was gathered that since the unauthorised transaction was made on his account, Oluwatobi was yet to recover his funds despite GTBank’s promise to resolve the issue.

It was gathered that within five minutes after her salary was paid, “N102,800 was removed from my account to an account of Ibukun Ademola.” Pearl explained further that all she was hearing when GTBank customer care was music.

“A transaction I did not initiate. How do I pay my bills and also survive? Am so devastated right now, how do I survive with a child, how do I attend to people am owing that I have promised I will pay them by month end? How do I survive this.” she lamented at the time, adding that GTBank sent her a mail, reportedly informing Pearl there’s “nothing they can do” she disclosed on her Twitter page.

When will CBN sanction GTBank?

Going by the customer protection circular published by CBN, the banking industry regulator, in December 2019, stipulated that failure to resolve customers’ complaints, within its prescribed timeline, attracts N500,000 per complaint per week while the infractions subsist.

Also, “Non-acknowledgment of complaints from customer or non-issuance of tracking numbers-N2.000,000.00 per complaint.

The post GTBank Customers Lament Unauthorised Transactions appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

The apex court said it erred and the decision to reverse itself was due to an error in the registry.

“It will be unjust to visit the sin of the court’s Registry on an innocent, vigilant, proactive and diligent litigant,” the apex court ruled.

The Supreme Court on February 27, 2019, had dismissed GTBank’s appeal seeking to overturn the judgment of the Ibadan high court that favoured Innoson motors.

Dissatisfied with the supreme court’s judgment, GTBank filed an application seeking the re-listing of the appeal on the grounds that it was wrongly dismissed.

Delivering judgment, a five-member panel of justices led by Olukayode Ariwoola, held unanimously that the supreme court made a mistake when it erroneously dismissed GTB’s appeal marked: SC/694/2014.

In the lead judgment written by Tijani Abubakar but read Abdu Aboki, the court disclosed that it was misled by its registry, which failed to promptly bring to the notice of the panel that sat on the case on February 27, 2019, that GTB had already filed its appellant’s brief of argument.

“I am convinced that at the material time that the appellant’s appeal was inadvertently dismissed by this court, there was in place, a valid and subsisting brief of argument filed by the applicant,” the court held.

What you should know

The legal battle between GTBank and Innoson started a little over a decade ago.

A federal high court in Ibadan, Oyo state, had ordered GTB by way of Garnishee order absolute — to pay N2.4 billion to Innoson with a 22% interest, per annum, on the judgment sum until the final liquidation.

A garnishee order is one of the options open to a judgment creditor to enforce a judgment made in its favour.

In 2013, a high court in suit no: FHC/Cs/139/2012 ordered GTBank to pay N4.7 billion to Innoson as restitution for arbitrary charges. The financial institution, however, challenged the ruling of the high court at the Court of Appeal, Enugu division.

In December 2014, the Appellate court asked GTBank to deposit N6 billion in an interest-yielding account to be supervised by the court’s Registrar. The money was to be domiciled in an account that will accrue interests, pending determination of the suit.

Not satisfied with that decision, GTBank filed a motion for the stay of execution of the ruling. However, The apex court struck out the application on the grounds that the Deposit Money Bank (DMB) had not obeyed the ruling of the appellate court that directed it to deposit

The post Innoson Vs GTBank: Supreme Court Makes U-turn On Judgement appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

Speaking with journalists, Chukwuma said GTBank is owing to him N32 billion, adding that the money would soon surpass the financial institution’s capacity to pay.

According to the business magnate, by the time the money owed surpassed GTBank’s financial capability, he would have no choice but to takeover from the present management.

Unmaskng.com understands that GTBank and Innoson have been spending time together in court due to a prolonged legal dispute.

Innoson had secured judgment debt against the bank in suit FHC/L/Cs/603/2006 and FHC/Cs/139/2012 respectively, which rose to over N32 billion due to accumulated interest.

In July 2021, Innoson had asked a federal high court in Lagos to set aside an order permitting GTB to restructure to a holding company.

But the bank completed the restructuring — GTB is now known as Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO Plc).

The billionaire businessman, at the media briefing, recounted that his relationship with the bank had been extremely cordial during the tenure of Olutayo Aderinokun, late MD of GTBank.

His words: “I was GTBank’s best customer in the south-east when Tayo, the former MD, was alive. Because of this, they opened a branch in Nnewi. After Tayo, the new MD took over. I don’t even know him. I saw him for the first time last year.

“They started fighting about the tribe. I am not certain about this but I think the reason he (GTB) is fighting is because of tribe. I don’t know exactly what his problem is.

“But finally, I have proved him wrong in everything. I have defeated him in all the courts we went to. The only thing left is for him to pay me what he owes me.

“He was going to my account and taking money anyhow. I discovered it, took him to court and won. Up till now, he hasn’t paid and we have gone up to the supreme court. Maybe he hasn’t paid because he wants Nigeria to change their law because of him.”

The CEO explained that he would no longer “disturb” the bank to pay the debt.

According to him, he would take over the bank when it gets to the point that the bank cannot pay the principal amount plus 22 percent accrued interest.

“The beauty of the whole thing is that the money is attracting the interest of 22 percent. So, I am waiting for the interest to be above their capacity so I can take over the bank,” Chukuma said.

“That’s what I am waiting for. I am not disturbing them anymore. I am assuring all the customers of GTB that if I take over, I would still run it well. They shouldn’t fear. I haven’t done any business that fails.

“I will run it better than them. If they cannot pay me, I have no choice but to take over the management.”

The post Innoson Chief: I’ll Soon Takeover GTBank appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

Recall that Access Bank, after receiving a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) blocked accounts of eight protesters who took part in the #EndSARS protest.

Surprisingly, Access Bank had gone ahead to freeze the accounts even before CBN approached the court for an order to freeze 20 accounts of #EndSARS protesters across various banks. The bank included; Zenith Bank, First Bank, and GTBank.

This line of action by Access Bank generated in a nationwide online protest, with some customers taking to social media platforms to publicly announce that they would be closing down their Access Bank accounts while suggesting others to do same in unity.

In the same vein, Gatefield Nigeria is demanding a total amount of N100 million as damages done by the restriction of its account. 

Based on this development, Access Bank investors are pushed to the edge, as their confidence dropped within the period of protest against the bank.

While defending its action, Access bank maintained that it can’t ignore or go against a directive from its regulator. However, Stanbic IBTC’s stance against the CBN directive negated Access Bank’s excuse.

Access bank overboard action has resulted in a fall in Access Bank’s share price. Unmask NG learnt that its Bank’s share price slumped from the N10 per share

to N9.15 kobo .

Similarly, Access Bank’s stock price declined further, as it opened trading with N9.15 kobo on Monday, only to close the market with a significant fall to NGN8.70 kobo.

At the time of publishing this report, Access Bank’s shares are down again by -3.45%, currently, with a loss of NGN0.3 kobo off the NGN8.70 kobo the lender opened the market with.

It is however pertinent to know that Access Bank may have gone beyond the line to ensure that such actions of a peaceful protest are disrupted by placing a Post-No-Credit (PCN) on account of activists who have been participating in the protest.

With this line of action taken by Access bank, old and potential investors and customers may no longer have trust in the financial institution.

The post Panic For Access Bank Investors As Customers Begin Closing Of Accounts appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

While the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) secured court approval to restrict the protesters’ accounts, the protesters can now appeal against the court ruling.

“To freeze forthwith all transactions on the under-listed 20 accounts on the list annexed to this application as Exhibit A and all other bank accounts of the defendants/respondents for a period of 180 days pending the outcome of investigation and inquiry currently being conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” the CBN request to freeze the protesters’ bank accounts read.

The request was however granted by the presiding judge, A.R. Mohammed, on Wednesday, November 4, 2020, but the judge gave a 90 days period, which means that with presentation of a good cause after the expiration of the 90 days, the court can renew the restriction period.

But, the affected individuals and company can now appeal against the court ruling.

The document signed by the judge partly read: “It is however directed that the 90 days freezing order when it lapsed, may be renewed upon good cause shown by the applicant.

“It is also directed that any person, whether artificial or natural, that is affected by this order may apply to the court to have his grievance or complain heard by the court.”

Meanwhile, Access Bank had been sued for a sum of N100 million over the freezing of the account of Gatefield Nigeria, due to the company’s involvement in #EndSARS.

According to Gatefield Nigeria, Access Bank had restricted its account since Thursday, October 15, 2020, based on the directive of the CBN.

The post What #EndSARS Protesters Need To Do To Retrieve Their Frozen Accounts appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

This follows a month after Sterling Bank obtained theirs in order to branch out of the core banking business.

With its Holding Company status, GTBank will commence its restructuring, which will enable it to establish standalone companies.

Amongst many things, GTBank disclosed that the Holding Company status will make it flexibility to adapt to future business opportunities.

A statement in which GTBank made the disclosure, read: “Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank or the Bank) is pleased to announce it has obtained the approval-in-principle of the Central Bank of Nigeria (the CBN) to commence the formal process of the reorganisation of the Bank to a financial holding company (the Restructuring), which will be implemented by means of a scheme of arrangement between the Bank and its shareholders pursuant to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (the Scheme).

“The Bank has also obtained the “No-objection” of the Securities & Exchange Commission (the SEC) in connection with the proposed Scheme.”

GTBank has however invested in some small business opportunities such as Habari (an online marketplace) and its Quick Credit service which is one of the most used credit sources due to its cheap interest rate.

The Habari platform is also in competition with UBA’s Marketplace. Habari is a multipurpose platform, but with a focus on e-commerce, pitting it against major names in the e-commerce market like Jumia and Konga.

Speaking on the development, the Managing Director of GTBank, Segun Agbaje said Habari is quickly gaining ground among online users.

Similarly, GTBank’s Quick Credit and Habari are expected to gain from the Holding Company structure and compete with Fintech platforms like Eyowo, Zedvance, Palmcredit, Renmoney, Specta, Carbon, Branch, and more offering credit to the Nigerian populace.

What you need to know

The Board of Directors of GTBank made the decision to embark on the Restructuring following a comprehensive strategic evaluation of the operating and competitive environment of the Nigerian banking sector in the near term. The Board expects that the financial holding company will have greater strategic flexibility to adapt to future business opportunities as well as market and regulatory changes than is currently the case.

Under Restructuring, it is proposed that the issued shares in the Bank be exchanged or a one-for-one basis for the shares in a financial holding company. The Bank’s existing Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) are also proposed to be exchanged or a one-for-one basis for new GDRs to be issued by the financial holding company.

Other Banks to become Holding Company

Unmask NG learnt that Sterling Bank is planning to undergo restructuring after receiving approval in principle from the CBN to form a Holding Company.

The announcement was made by Sterling Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Abubakar Suleiman.

The post GTBank Secures CBN Approval To Become A Holding Company appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

The banks including Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), First Bank, Access Bank, amongst others, were debited N917.5 billion by the CBN in the week ended Friday, October 23, 2020.

According to CBN regulation, in line with the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), Nigerian banks are expected to leave a total of 27.5% of customers’ money for CBN to deduct.

How Much CBN Deducted From Banks

Unmask NG learnt that customers’ funds worth N55 billion was deducted from GTBank by the CBN, N285 billion was deducted from Zenith Bank, N160 billion was debited from UBA, NGN95 billion was taken from First Bank, while N140 billion from Access Bank was debited.

Other banks affected include; Polaris Bank which was debited N30 billion; Keystone was debited N30 billion; Standard Chartered N24 billion; Fidelity N15 billion; Ecobank N11 billion; FCMB N11 billion; Wema Bank N10 billion; Stanbic Bank N10 billion; Coronation Bank N10 billion.

 Sterling Bank N8 billion, Citi Bank N6 billion, Union Bank N5 billion, Rand MB N5 billion, Providus Bank N5 billion, Fsdh N1.5 billion, and Nova Bank N1 billion. All totaling N 917.5 billion.

Meanwhile, between the Zenith Bank, UBA, GTBank, First Bank, and Access Bank – all of which are known as FUGAZ – CBN debited a combined N1.9 trillion in the second quarter of April to June 2020. With the latest deduction, CBN has now debited customers’ funds worth N6.57 trillion.

What you should know

CRR involves reducing the amount of money available to banks to lend further reducing their profitability. By debiting banks for failing to meet CRR targets, the CBN is effectively denying banks of the ability to earn an income in customers’ deposits.

The apex bank under the leadership of Governor Godwin Emefiele has deployed several heterodox policies as it strives to stimulate the economy and manage the exchange rate crisis in the absence of strong fiscal support. This policy has placed banks in cross chairs with the apex bank exposing them to CRR debit, should in case they cannot use customers’ deposits to spur local production and lending. it is important to know that the amount which CBN has been debiting as CRR is the cash owned by customers.

The post GTBank, UBA, Others Aide CBN’s Restriction On #EndSARS Protesters’ Accounts appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.

Surprisingly to members of the public, Adeoye isn’t the only one calling out GTBank for fraud-related matters, particularly transferring customers’ money into accounts belonging to betting companies.

In a similar occurrence, an Agricultural economist, Hannah Obeahon narrated how her sister’s account with GTBank was illegally debited.

According to Obeahon, GTBank illegally debited about NGN500,000 from her sister’s account and transferred the debited amount to SportyBet‘s account.

Obeahon explained that the amount was deducted in batches, ranging from N10,000, and N50,000.

“My sister woke up to debit alerts from GTBank amounting to N500,000 and she didn’t authorise any of the transactions, all the monies were sent to a sporty account…How is this possible!!! It appears our money isn’t even safe in any bank account.” Obeahon cried out.

GTBank’s defense

GTBank failed to take the blame for the illegal transactions made, neither did its shoulder itself with the responsibility of investigating the fraud-related matters. In fact, the customers who had a combined N770,000 deducted from their GTBank accounts were blamed for the illegal transfers.

Placing the fraudulent transfer on the customers, GTBank clarified that the customers were being careless of their PIN that they were careless of their PIN and BVN numbers.

Despite the customers’ resistance that their PIN and BVN numbers weren’t disclosed to anyone, GTBank failed to properly address the matters.

GTBank turning a commercial hub for fraudsters?

Unmask NG understands that Adeoye and Obeahon’s sister were not the first victim of fraud-related cases at GTBank.

Going by the information provided in its financial result for FY 2019, it was learnt that the number of fraudulent activities carried out stood at 15,461, surpassing the 10,673 fraudulent cases it recorded in 2018.

While the amount involved in 2018 was over N821.4 million, in 2019, the amount involved skyrocketed to NGN1.5 billion.

One question that begs for answer is, if all the victims are careless as GTBank claimed in the case of Adeoye and Obeahon’s sister?

The post GTBank Enmeshed in Fraud Controversies appeared first on Business News in Nigeria.