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ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia’s state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia has issued a deadline for anyone who illegally withdrew large amounts of money during a major technical glitch to return the funds or face prosecution.
The bank, the biggest financial institution in the country, reported a loss of approximately 2.4 billion Birr (more than $40 million) as a result of the incident on March 16 when the bank’s ATM and digital payment system allowed customers to withdraw and transfer money with no limit for around 12 hours.
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The bank had alleged that most of the unauthorized withdrawals were carried out by university students. Officials believe news of the cash withdrawal glitch quickly spread among students on social media. The bank has written to various educational institutions throughout the country asking their students to cooperate in its effort to recoup its loss.
The bank released a statement this week on its plan to start posting names and images of the perpetrators as a way to force them to return the funds, in addition to pursuing legal avenues.
On Thursday it set a deadline of Saturday for clients to return the funds willingly.
Sources inside the bank told Semafor Africa it had so far only managed to recover a small portion of the amount it lost, which was why the institution has been forced to take drastic action.