No Money Was Paid Into Pastor’s Account, FCMB Tells Nigerians

Following a widely publicised report that the Managing Director of FCMB Group Plc claimed that he mistakenly transferred N573 million to an account of Magu’s pastor, the lender has come out to refute the report.

In a statement released by the FCMB Group on Wednesday, the bank said the report was false as there was no transfer of such amount into the said account.

This, the bank said was clarified during the presidential hearing in Abuja by the bank’s Managing Director.

According to the bank, the error had occurred only on file during a system upgrade in 2016. This upgrade, the bank claimed led to multiple unrelated entries into a single account under the affected customer’s name on one of the lender’s reports.

The bank’s statement reads “Our attention has been drawn to widely circulating stories incorrectly stating that our Managing Director, during a recent presidential hearing in Abuja, testified that the bank mistakenly transferred N573m to the account of a church and the said error was not discovered for 4 years. We feel it is in the public interest to state emphatically that there was no transfer of N573m into this account, mistakenly or otherwise.

“To provide further clarity, during a maintenance upgrade of our systems in 2016, a defective file led to the aggregation of multiple unrelated entries into a single balance under the affected customer’s name in one of our reports.

“This aggregation occurred only in the weekly automated report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit. It had no effect on any customer account balance or statements and therefore was not immediately identified.

“Our Managing Director clarified to the Presidential panel that the system generated report was incorrect and that there was no mistaken transfer of N573 million. He also submitted comprehensive documentary evidence to this effect.

“We appreciate that comments may have been misconstrued and therefore believe it is important to emphatically clarify the position that there was no mistaken transfer whatsoever, as stated above.

“FCMB continues to fully cooperate with the panel, and has been entirely transparent in its reporting. We remain committed to ethical and professional conduct at all times.”