Editorial: Why ECOBANK Always?

At the time when most Christians were climaxing their Sunday activities at their various places of worship, news of another burglary at ECOBANK saturated the air. This time, the centre of attraction was a branch of ECOBANK-Liberia located in the commercial district of Paynesville Red Light on the Monrovia-Kakata highway, just opposite the St. Matthews Lutheran Church and Ma Kebeh Gas Station.

It was actually late during the afternoon hours of September 26, 2010 that it was discovered that criminals had burst into the bank’s vault, making away with at least two hundred thousand United States dollars. An investigation conducted by the New Dawn suggests that the rogues entered the bank through a business center, CEM International Limited, which shares the same building with the local branches of two GSM companies-Lone Star Cell and Comium-Liberia.

The reported criminals then burst into the Lone Star-GSM office, where they took 250-thousand United States dollars, and then onto COMIUM, where they again took 200-thousand United States dollars, along with ten cartoons of scratch cards before entering the bank with which it shares the same partition (walls).

We are credibly informed that it was through the walls that they entered the bank, bursting into the vault of ECOBANK, where they found and took away at least 200-thousand United States dollars.

As we were continuing our investigation, there was another report of theft of at least US$40,000.00, this time around by a teller at another local branch. We are also informed that this recent theft was suppressed until the September 26 burglary at the bank’s Paynesville branch, leaving many to wonder as to why the bank’s management would choose to keep quiet on such situation.

Upon yesterday’s discovery, many on lookers and customers of the bank expressed serious fears, questioning the credibility of ECOBANK. What’s most puzzling to us is the possibility of such criminal mission in an open terrain, with the presence of the various private security networks.

Our attention is even drawn to the CEM International Limited, owned by a Nigerian national. We are told that this store, used to burst into Lone Star, Comium and ECOBANK-Paynesville, had always been empty until a few weeks ago, when the Nigerian national (named not disclosed) rented it for a business.

How did the criminals, in fact, enter the store, how did they know the exact places in the GSM offices to burst to get into the bank’s vault, and how possible was it for anyone or group of people to burst into three stores with concrete walls, without being noticed are all questions we join the innocent customers of ECOBANK, in pondering over.

Or could it be an organized “operation” from within, only because restitutions are always made by the bank whenever such crimes occur? For the past two years, it has, on a number of occasions, always been ECOBANK. Why always ECOBANK? This, too, we must continue to find an answers in the interest of the many customers and partners of the bank.