President of Groupe Ideal, a leading financial institution in Ghana, Dr. Nii Kotei Dzani, has cautioned loan applicants to desist from using fake and fraudulent documents with the intention of duping financial institutions or will be made to face the law when caught.

Dr. Dzani made this statement in an address to the media on the high incidence of the use of fraudulent documents by imposters in their attempt to access loans from financial institutions.

He mentioned that the Ghanaian financial services industry has faced an increased risk of exposure to these imposters on the issue of fake documents for loans.

This, he said, does not boost investor confidence, dents the image of players in the industry and affects the economy as a whole. ‘’At Ideal, we go through rigorous processes to ascertain the authenticity of documents submitted by loan applicants before a loan is processed.

In the case where documents turn out to be fake and fraudulent, the culprits are handed over to the police, to press criminal charges against them,” Dr. Kotei Dzani noted. “As an institution, we have measures put in place to deter perpetrators and avoid such acts from happening.

This we believe have gone a long way to strengthen the ties between the company and its customers.” Dr. Kotei Dzani cited one person (Senanu Tsikata of Global Pot Company). Mr Tsikata, an impostor, tried defrauding Ideal Finance using deceitful and forged documents to apply for a loan facility.

In the case of Mr Tsikata, all documents presented by him (Bank Statements and Land Documents) were found to be fake, after the loan was approved and a Credit Facility Agreement duly executed. He was later rounded up and handed over to the police for attempting to defraud the company.

The President of Groupe Ideal explained that Ideal Finance Limited has a loan disbursement policy that governs the institution.

He stressed that in the instance where a loan is declined as a result of fake or forged document, any processing fee paid by the supposed applicant (fraudster) is non-refundable, since the company will have fulfilled its part of the bargain.

These are in full compliance with the regulations as far as our loan policy is concerned. “As a business, we have to safeguard both the short- and long-term needs of our clients.

In so doing we rely on the collaterals provided by applicants as security against loans disbursed” noted Dr. Dzani. “Being an established and credible institution licensed by the Bank of Ghana, we have an obligation to ensure, that the industry gets rid of such perfidious characters.”

He said financial institutions put in a lot of efforts to ensure that the needs of credible customers are met.

While assuring existing and potential customers of Ideal Finance’s commitment to serving their utmost interest, Dr. Dzani entreated all well-meaning Ghanaians to join the crusade to weed out the bad nuts and bring sanity into the financial system.