BANK FRAUD AND ITS EFFECT ON BANK PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA

Fraud is an epidemic dimension that has eaten deep into the banking sector as well as the entire economy. Itsdevastating effect manifests itself in the deteriorating balance sheet of banks as well as in economic backwardness. As a result, measures to eradicate fraud in banking sector become a central focus of the government and the monetary authorities. It was against this backdrop that this study was aimed at providing empirical evidence on the effect of fraud on performance of banks. Data for the analyses were obtained from primary data through questionnaires and secondary data from Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Annual Report. Four hypotheses were formulated to access the impact of looting of fund, social and environmental factors, motivation and government effort on effect of fraud on banks performance in Nigeria. These were tested with simple percentages and chi-square (x2) statistical technique at 5% significance level. Results showed that lack of adequate motivation is not a major cause of fraud in banks, looting of fund by bank managers and directors constitutes the major form of fraud in Nigeria, government effort and its agencies have negatively impacted on combating fraud in Nigeria and environmental or social factors have negative impact on bank fraud. On the basis of findings, it is recommended that government should make their impact to be felt in combating fraud by establishing more agencies for combating frauds. Those managers and director involved in looting of fund should be persecuted to serve as a deterrent to subsequently once. In addition, bank staff should be properly screened to test their morality and integrity before recruitment. Adequate internal control system should also be establish to have check and balances among bank staff. It is envisaged that if all these are put in place, fraud will be reduced to its barest minimum thereby restoring confidence to bank customers.