It is a common occurrence for an organization , business that has been implicated in any form of scandal be it corruption, crime or any thing that is in the criminal light to take any action sudden or extreme to recover it reputation Barclays Bank of Kenya has done just that by freezing applications for safe deposit boxes following the discovery of fake money and gold inside its Queensway branch in Nairobi on Tuesday .
In a statement issued on Thursday, CEO Jeremy Awori said the bank was also reviewing the existing safe boxes as “an extra precaution.” “As an extra precaution, we have taken a decision not to take any new safe deposit boxes and are working with our clients to review the existing safe deposit boxes,” said the Barclays Bank CEO.
He further clarified that the fake 20 million U.S. dollars (Ksh.2.6 billion) intercepted at the Queensway branch had not infiltrated into the bank. “We would like to reassure you that we have robust processes to ensure that all currency dispensed over our counters and ATMs is genuine and that items held in safe deposit boxes are separate from the bank deposits,” he said.
“We continue to cooperate and assist the investigating authorities including proactively reporting and handing over a second safe deposit box owned by the customer under investigation.” meanwhile, the two Barclays employees who had been arrested in connection with the fake currency have been released and will be prosecution witnesses in the case. On Wednesday, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations impounded fake gold in the same safe deposit box at Barclays Bank’s Queensway branch where Ksh.2.6 billion