The deputy Managing Director of the Cal Merchant Bank, Mr. Joe Abrokwa, has advised bank customers in the country to always make sure that they have keep all chequebooks and other bank documents under lock and key to avoid being defrauded by criminals who are currently operating in the banking sector worldwide.

He has also advised companies, institutions and individuals not to not allow one accountant to handle cheques and at the same time do the account reconciliation and bookkeeping.

"You need to separate the cheque writing, account reconciliation and book keeping," he advised.

Mr. Abrokwa gave the advice when he addressed a seminar on fraud prevention in the banking sector, which was organized by his outfit for its customers from Kumasi, Cape Coast and Takoradi recently.

According to Mr. Abrokwa, the incidence of fraud in the banking sector has been on the increase worldwide due to the advancement in the computer technology and telecommunications systems which has made it easy for criminals and sometimes organized gangs to perpetrate various forms of fraud on innocent victims.

Abrokwa further told the participants that it has been estimated that more that 500 million cheques are forged annually worldwide with losses in excess of $10 billion with the financial institutions and business enterprises being the major victims.

The deputy managing director said his outfit, like all the other banks operating in the country, continuously implement various measures to prevent and detect fraudulent activities involving customers accounts, and business clients also have a role to play to make the security measures a success.

"It is based on this that Cal Merchant Bank has felt it important to organize this seminar to create awareness among its customers in particular and the public as whole," he said.

According to him, cheque fraud comes in various forms and includes forged signatures, forged endorsements, counterfeit cheques and alterations.

He, however, said there are a number of precautions that business enterprises can take to greatly reduce the likelihood of cheque fraud.

He named some of the precautionary measures as the limitation on the number of official cheque signers, proper and wisely order of cheque books and maintenance of adequate physical security of cheques, deposit slips and the other banking documents

. He also warned bankers not to leave their cheque books on their office desk or in their cars.

Mr. Abrokwa, who was flanked by Mr. E.Awotwi-Pratt, the Takoradi branch manager of the bank, further told the participants that the seminar was organized to sensitize them on the need to be security conscious at all times with a view to helping to prevent fraudulent activities relating to their bank accounts and that it would be on their own interest if they put what they have learnt into practice.

Supt. Ken Yeboah from the criminal unit of the Ghana Police Service on his part said bank fraud has been with Ghanaians for years but its intensity has increased over the years.

"Formerly the amount involved were hundreds, then thousands, it later moved to millions and now we are talking about billions of cedis and am sure if we do not work hard to halt the trend, it would not be long and we would be talking about trillion of cedis," Supt.Yeboah, a regular face on the GTV crime combatant programme, told the participants.

He advised against customers sending, their personnel and relations to collect their cheque books for them just because they are busy.