Two weeks after the fraudulent disappearance of N450,000 from the Wema Bank account of Beatrice Adeyeye, a retired civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo State, the bank has refunded the money.

This refund came on Wednesday after FIJ’s report establishing the complicity of the bank in the fraudulent transaction on Adeyeye’s account.

On January 13, Adeyeye had reported to FIJ about how she received multiple debit alerts on her mobile phone even though her ATM card was in her possession all through the period of the fraudulent transaction. The messages showed that the money was moved through the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) from the Wema Bank branch within the campus of The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

READ ALSO: N450,000 Loan Disappears From Retiree’s Wema Bank Account

FIJ’s independent investigation revealed that the money was transferred to the United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) accounts belonging to a certain Damilola Rasaq Taiwo, an act which at least a staff member of Wema bank would be aware of.

“When she returned to the bank on Wednesday, she was informed that the money had been returned to her account,” Olaitan, Adeyeye’s eldest son, told FIJ.

“To be very sure too, she made transactions from her account to  my sister’s account and she got an immediate text message of confirmation.”

FIJ learnt that Adeyeye’s case was resolved to her satisfaction because she escalated the issue to the media.

“When she returned the ATM card in her possession, they were forced to tell her they would not even be able to give her a new one until an internal error is issued,” Olaitan noted.

“They admitted that they were trying to recall ATM cards issued in the last two months as many of the cards had been compromised without the knowledge of the customers.”

“Apparently, the engineers in charge of the cards made some errors but they were trying to cover it up until my mother spoke up.”

While this Wema bank branch would not be issuing new ATM cards until the pending issue is resolved, the headquarters in Lagos is now aware of the menace and may sanction the bank’s branch manager afterwards.