BY OLA AJAYI
IBADAN — FIVE ex-staff of the Diamond Bank Plc who are challenging their “illegal dismissal” in Oyo State High Court have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate what they described as “suspicious and authorized financial transactions” by the bank.

The bank, after two years the ex-staff had instituted an action against it, had filed a suit against them.

In a petition addressed to the Head, Bank Fraud Unit, EFCC, Ikoyi, Lagos, and signed by Mr. Oluwasina Ogungbade, the former staff alleged that they received SMS message on their mobile phones that certain amount of money had been credited to and immediately debited from the account which they operated whilst in the employment of the bank.

They maintained that the accounts were employee accounts and had as a matter of fact closed upon their disengagement from the employment of the bank.

According to them, having been disengaged by the bank, they found it shocking to receive the text message notification on the 7th January,2011 informing them of the transactions.

Some of the names of the ex-staff who want the anti-graft agency to beam its searchlight on the said transactions are Ladoja Gbolahan, Chukwuma Kalu, Tokunbo Obayemi.

They claimed that N3,876,711.24, N11,123,142.63 and N6, 894, 145.36 were credited and debited respectively.

The petition stated that the former staff did not authorize these transactions. Their counsel added that his clients found the transactions very criminal and suspicious that they “were back dated to the 31st December, 2007 when they were still in the employment of the bank”.

“Of more importance is the fact that they had all upon their disengagement from the bank received SMS alerts informing them of the write-off, closure or termination of all outstanding transactions on their accounts. They did not, whilst in the employment of the bank make,on 31st December,2007 or on any other date, any of the transactions in respect of which they were alerted on the 7th February,2011”, he said.

Based on the alleged transactions, they want the management of Diamond Bank to explain the circumstances surrounding the strange and suspicious transactions which occurred in their accounts.

The commission had acknowledged receipt of the petition on 10th February through the head of Operations.