Benin – Fraudulent withdrawal of 3 million from a deceased’s accounts: a cashier faces justice
The cashier of a banking institution placed under a custody warrant and her superior, a branch manager, appeared yesterday, Tuesday, August 12th, at the Cotonou First Instance Court.
The two are being prosecuted for a case of fraudulent withdrawal of 3 million CFA francs from the bank account of a deceased person. The operation took place in 2023 while the account holder had been deceased since 2021.
The deceased’s children are the ones who noticed the fraudulent operation and alerted the bank. An internal audit initiated by the bank’s management led to the cashier’s arrest.
According to the audit, the signature used during the disputed withdrawal at the bank branch was a forgery. At the stand, the currently detained cashier claimed not to remember the customer who received the amount and said that she acted at the request of a colleague whose identity she no longer remembers.
The branch manager acknowledged that any disbursement operation requires her approval, while clarifying that her role is limited to checking the signature’s conformity and the availability of the funds. She added that the signature appeared correct and that the presented identification seemed valid.
The bank, the plaintiff, maintains that the signature was indeed false. The cashier’s lawyer requested a provisional release, accompanied by bail and a deposit, the amount of which should be set by the court.
Per the public prosecutor’s request, the judge has adjourned the case to October 14, 2025, to consider the provisional release application and continue the debate.
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