George Bush Juma had a successful career as a banker.
He was a supervisor, earning an enviable Ksh150 000 per month. His wife was also a banker, and the family was comfortable.
However, his promising career crumbled under the weight of greed and deceit.
He is currently serving three sentences in Kamiti prison, where he was interviewed by Inooro Tv.
But how did such a high-ranking figure in the banking sector end up in a prison cell?
His account, as narrated by WoK, sheds light on how some greedy individuals in the banking industry use nefarious schemes to make millions per month, capitalizing on clueless clients who trust the banks to safeguard their hard earned cash.
Senior auditor
Juma started his journey as an auditor, entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring client accounts, both local and international.
In this role, he knew which accounts had plenty of activity, which ones had plenty of money, and most importantly, which accounts were not monitored on a regular basis.
He paid special attention to accounts held by clients in the diaspora.
As he explained, these clients, often residing abroad, would frequently deposit money into their accounts but show little urgency in withdrawing it, sometimes waiting for as long as two to three years.
Juma and his collaborators saw an opportunity in this complacency, a chance to manipulate the system and divert these funds into their own accounts.
Education
To reach such a high-ranking position within the bank and develop the skills required for this sophisticated forgery, Juma had to invest significantly in his education and career.
He graduated from Kabarak University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. A month after graduation, he was employed at a local bank for one year.
“I was very productive in my department. Luckily, the bank offered me a scholarship to study economics and statistics at Massachusetts university in the USA.
Even there, my vision and hard work made me stand out among my peers. I was elected to the helm of the Union of African Group of Scholars who were living in the USA,” he said.
Upon graduation, he was hired by one of the banks, but due to racism issues, he chose to return to Kenya and work with his initial employer.
He worked for a couple of months before transferring to another bank as an auditor.
“My work was to balance the ledgers. I was so productive and strict with my work that I was promoted to the position of supervisor,” he said.
As a supervisor, everything was now passing through his office for approval.
It was at this point that his corrupt superiors presented him with an offer he couldn’t resist.
Sweet deal
These superiors told Juma that although he had devised his own way of operations as a supervisor, they had a ´culture` of how things worked there.
“They told me that I was not the first person, nor would I be the last to be the bank´s supervisor,” said Juma.
The corrupt bosses further influenced him wallet-wise, tempting him with a better offer than his sh 150 000 monthly salary he was earning at the time.
Juma was hooked.
With his knowledge and skills, he helped them get away with their fraudulent schemes, which often involved forgery.
They were a team of 11, including IT gurus.
In their first job, they made sh 17 million. Their second job yielded 11 million. Clients were losing sh 1 daily from their accounts.
Making easy millions soon became a lifestyle. By the time their scam was noticed by the bank a year later, they had made fortunes.
The paper trail was what sold them out. Since his office was liable, Juma was sued by the bank.
He was accused of 18 cases, three of which convicted him.
He exhausted his ill-gotten gains in a futile attempt to fight off the other charges, eventually going bankrupt.
Tempted
Reminiscing on his experience, Juma said many bankers fall for similar traps.
“Even today, bankers are stealing clients’ money using complex systems.
If you withdraw money today and withdraw again tomorrow, you might notice very slight discrepancies between the two transcripts,” he said.
He added that the theft becomes easy because most clients pay attention to the superior figures column, but rarely check the cents column.
To avoid such cases, he emphasized the importance of keeping a close eye on transactions, ensuring the figures match down to the cent, and establishing good relationships with bank officers who can help identify any discrepancies.
