FOOTAGE IN A BBC NI Spotlight programme last night showed a Bank of Ireland employee talking about using a fraudulent insurance claims to recoup losses in a collapsed company.
The footage was filmed secretly by John Conway, who ran the company, Meteor Electrical in Cookstown, county Tyrone. After the collapse of Meteor, the bank sent officials to try to recoup money it was owed.
Some was claimed back using bad debt insurance and in the footage, BOI employee Kelley Turner can be heard saying she gave false information on claims.
She also asks for records to be tampered with in order to make it look like a company owed thousands of euro to Meteor.
“Highly edited”
In a statement today, the bank said the video footage is “highly edited and was made after Meteor entered liquidation”.
It is overlaid with commentary that is highly selective and out of context. The bank has requested a copy of the full and unedited footage, but to date Mr Conway has failed to provide same.
“The bank has a code of conduct which it values highly and any departure from this Code of Conduct by bank employees is treated very seriously. The bank is by law prevented from divulging personal information regarding employees or ex-employees.”
It said ongoing High Court proceedings between the bank and Conway, as well as PSNI investigations into a fraud complaint made by the bank, preclude it from commenting further.
Questions
Commenting on the programme, Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary said management at the bank need to “comprehensively address the allegations that have been made against their organisation”.
“The question also has to be asked as to how widespread are such practices. Based on anecdotal evidence from businesses that have had trouble dealing with their banks, there is no reason to believe that similar actions were not taking place in the Republic also,” he said.
“We also need to know from Bank of Ireland management if there were any incentive payments or performance related payments in place which would have encouraged bank staff to engage in sharp practices.”
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