Banking industry players must up their game – Banking consultant on OSP’s disruption of counterfeit network
A Chartered Banking Consultant, Eric Nii Quartey, has urged banking industry players in the country to up their game.
His comment comes in the wake of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyabeng, in response to criticism about the relevance of his outfit, highlighted some accomplishments he had chalked since assuming office.
Among others, Nii Quartey noted that the OSP had disrupted a syndicate involved in the production of a substantial amount of counterfeited foreign currency and made seizures in two warehouses in Accra and Tema where an amount of $40 million was discovered in concealed steel trunks.
In an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Friday, December 15, Mr Quartey explained that although money laundering is banking, “the good thing is that banking in itself as a profession is anti-money laundering but working in regulation.”
“We must be grateful that authorities have taken hold of it…We are not sure how much counterfeit is in the country because we are not sure how it entered in the first place and so the banking industry must be up to their game at this point,” he said.
According to him, all the banks in the country must take a second look at their A.L.S structures, looking out for any red flags while being cautious of any foreign deposits.
Mr. Quartey also urged organisations with licences to manage the foreign exchange market to exercise caution, as counterfeit money is already in the system.
“It becomes very easy for these people to want to use this money to pay bills that have to do with government. The whole idea of money laundering is to launder money, send it through the financial service industry through the government agencies to be washed for them,” he added.
Source: Ghana News
