Ethiopia: National Bank to press charges against 391 bank account holders suspected of illegal money transfer

National Bank of Ethiopia says it has closed 391 bank accounts and due to file charges against the account holders who are suspected of engaging in illegal money transfer activities.

A list containing the names of the suspected individuals have been sent to Ministry of Justice pending criminal charges state media reports.

According to the report, Governor of the bank Yinager Dessie (PhD), said in a presser on Friday that employees and management of several banks have been found implicit in the crime an.d they will be facing nonadministrative and legal actions.

The Bank says it has prepared a system to reward and pay individuals who are willing to inform the bank any kind of illegal financial activities.

Adding that it will strengthen actions to crackdown on the black market.

It says it will be stiffening measures on business owners who are taking advantage of the Franco Valuta allowed by the government to control inflation to illegally obtain foreign currency and import goods into the country.

Last week, the Ethiopian Finance Intelligence Service (FIS) has warned agencies and local actors it accused of involving in illegal money transfer activities to refrain from their activities.

The warning came in the backdrop of a never before seen gap in foreign currency exchange rates between the official and the informal market attributed to shortage of foreign currency. A week prior to the warning media reports say, the Ethiopian birr was being “traded as high as 92 a dollar on the black market.”