DETECTION AND CONTROL OF FINANCIAL FRAUDS IN NIGERIA BANKING SYSTEM: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTION A CASE STUDY OF ZENITH BANK PLC

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There has been no single accepted definition of the term “fraud”. Fraud in whatever form is limitless on classification, this is why courts and writers on fraud try to escape away from giving a decision definition, notwithstanding the varied meaning, attached to the concept of financial fraud the author addressed the subject with the following working definitions. Oxford and chambers dictionaries define fraud as a criminal deception, act of deceptive, trick, cheating swindling person or thing that deceives. Longman dictionary define fraud as ‘an act if deceitful behaviour for the purposes of gain which may be punishable by law. In the mind of civil court of justice, fraud may be said to cover “all act, omissions and concealment which involve a branch of legal or equitable duty trust or confidence justly reposed and injurious to another or by which an undue influence or available i.e taken o. Bronifagbeni define banking fraud to mean an act or cause if deception deliberately practiced to gain unlawful or unfair advantages such deception directed to the detriments of another. The goes further to define fraud to mean depriving a person dishonestly or something which is his or of something to which he or would or mighty but for perpetration in the fraud be entailed. Having closely studies these approaches to definition to fraud especially from the banking perspective one may correctly see bank financial fraud as a deliberate act by an individual or group within or without the Nigeria banking system to cheat, swindle, deceives or manipulate in other to disposes the banking depressions/share holders of their funds.

Therefore fraud and forgone in banking transactions can be perpetrated through falsification of entire in accounts of customers with a view to take advantage of the excess proceed. Despite several definitions of frauds, the author believes that the ones so far given are rather appropriate advantages, and inspiring for the purpose in which the research work intends to achieve. This is because they contain the basic elements of fraud which include that: (a) There must be decent or deception directed to the detriment of another or entirety.