United Bank for Africa, (UBA and nine other commercial banks in the country have released more names of forex defaulters in compliance with the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBn) to publish the names of individuals looking to trick the system.
According to information hosted on the websites of 10 commercial banks, there are over 1,226 names published with UBA having the highest number.
On its website, Zenith Bank listed 990 FX offenders, while Polaris Bank and Sterling Bank listed 40 and 53, respectively.
Access Bank on its website has 29, Fidelity Bank is also reporting 83, First City Monument Bank had eight, Stanbic IBTC Bank 15, Standard Chartered Bank had four, United Bank for Africa had three, and Wema bank has so far published just one name.
Polaris Bank on its website noted that the 54 customers cancelled their trip and failed to refund the Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) sold to them despite follow-ups with them.
Sterling Bank also revealed that its customers cancelled their trip but failed to return the PTA availed to them despite reaching out to them with phone calls and messages.
The bank also showed that six of its customers presented fake visas or documents to apply for PTA.
The customers were alleged to have either presented fake Visas, fake tickets or documentations for travel and did not travel.
The customers it was learnt are likely to be penalised by post no debt (PND) on all banking platforms.
To serve as a deterrent, the CBN had recently directed banks to publish on their websites, the names and BVN of exploitative customers who indulged in sharp practices to circumvent its foreign exchange policy.
The Central Bank of Nigeria in July instructed Deposit Money Banks (DMB) to publish names and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) of customers who violated the rules.
The apex bank said the directive was prompted by reports of sharp practices by some unscrupulous customers to circumvent the new CBN policy on the sale of forex for overseas personal and business travel.
FX for travelers is set at the maximum of $4000; it is however believed that these customers might have defrauded the system of thousands of dollars.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
