Document Fraud Hits GH¢4.2m in Ghana's Banking Sector
Losses linked to forgery and the manipulation of documents surged dramatically within Ghana's banking sector in 2025, even as financial institutions recorded a significant decline in employee involvement in fraudulent activities.
The Banks, Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) 2025 Fraud Report revealed that the value at risk from forgery and document manipulation jumped to GH¢4.2 million in 2025 from just GH¢10,000 recorded in 2024.
According to the report, the extraordinary increase was largely driven by a single financial institution, which accounted for approximately GH¢4.1 million of the total value at risk.
The report identified forgery as one of the fastest-growing fraud threats confronting Ghana's financial sector, reflecting increasingly sophisticated attempts by fraudsters to manipulate banking documents and exploit institutional controls.
Beyond document fraud, cash suppression continued to pose a significant challenge for banks and specialised deposit-taking institutions.
The value at risk associated with cash suppression rose by 12 per cent, increasing from GH¢1.6 million in 2024 to GH¢1.7 million in 2025.
The report indicated that Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) accounted for 90 per cent of cash suppression cases within the SDI sector, highlighting the vulnerability of smaller financial institutions to internal financial misconduct.
Meanwhile, burglary-related losses also worsened, climbing from GH¢730,000 in 2024 to GH¢1.18 million in 2025.
Despite the increase in certain fraud categories, the report highlighted encouraging progress in reducing employee involvement in fraud.
The number of staff implicated in fraudulent activities across banks and SDIs declined by 40 per cent, falling from 365 cases in 2024 to 219 cases in 2025.
Cash theft and cash suppression remained the dominant offences among employees.
Of the 219 staff members implicated in fraud, 139 employees, representing 63 per cent, were involved in cash theft and cash suppression. This compares with 274 employees, or 75 percent, recorded in 2024.
Interestingly, although banks accounted for only 22 per cent of cash suppression cases, they represented approximately GH¢40.7 million, or 96 per cent of the total value at risk associated with the offence, illustrating the significantly higher financial impact of such incidents within commercial banks.
The report also raised concerns over disciplinary measures taken against staff involved in fraud.
Banks and SDIs dismissed 75 employees in 2025, representing a 52 per cent decline from the 155 dismissals recorded a year earlier.
However, the dismissals represented only 34 per cent of the 219 employees implicated in fraudulent activities.
Of those dismissed, 44 employees, representing 59 per cent, were linked to cash-theft-related offences.
The report suggests that while internal fraud is becoming less widespread, financial institutions must continue strengthening governance frameworks, document verification systems and internal controls to curb emerging fraud risks.
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