ABSTRACT

This research is entitled ‘A Sociological Analysis of Fraud among Employees of Selected Commercial Banks in Kaduna Metropolis’. The indispensability of commercial banking institutions in any nation’s economy cannot be over emphasized. Unfortunately, the Nigerian commercial banking institutions have been ravaged with cases of fraudulent activities, being perpetrated by some of their fraudulent employees. Consequentially, the myriad of fraudulent practices among employees is posing a serious threat to the sustainability and liquidity of commercial banks. Hence, the objectives of this study are to identify the nature of fraud, the causes of fraud, the consequences of fraud and to suggest solutions to fraud among employees of commercial banks in Kaduna metropolis. Relevant Literature was reviewed in line with the research objectives and Robert K. Merton strain theory was adopted for this study. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection was adopted for the study. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 to generate frequency and percentage. Also, chi square was used test the significant of the relationship between the variables while the qualitative data was content analyzed. Thus, findings revealed that the respondents strongly agreed that unauthorized transaction is associated with fraud and the majority (42.6%) of the respondents pointed out that computer fraud, nip baud fraud as well as internal and external fraud is the most common types of fraud practiced in commercial banks. It was also discovered that the majority of the respondents sees inadequate salaries, greed and unethical behaviour as the most important reasons why employees often engage in fraudulent activities within commercial banks. Furthermore, it was found that liquidation, profit and financial loss of commercial banks were the major negative consequences of fraud in commercial banks. In addition, the hypothesis test revealed that there is a significant relationship between the nature of fraud and causes of fraud among employees of commercial banks. Also, there is a significant relationship between banking department and the types of fraud committed among employees of commercial banks. The study recommends financial motivation for employees, background check for employees before recruitment, periodic update of information technologies, good customer relationship, insuring of bank deposit, strengthening of the treasury single account across the state, external audit of commercial banks, forensic investigation and quick justice dispensation for fraudulent employees as a panacea to end fraud in commercial banks.