Bank staff duck for cover

Stephen Versalko. Photo / Dean Purcell

The ASB Bank has spent six months ducking for cover since the Herald on Sunday revealed the identity of fraudster Stephen Versalko.

On Friday, its media staff did not respond to a string of calls and messages from the newspaper.

We went on to ring dozens of staff and senior managers at the bank. Most refused to talk, and some said all employees had been emailed instructions not to talk to media.

They said they faced being fired if they spoke openly about the case.

Some did speak of their incredulity that Versalko had stolen $18m in nine years without anyone noticing.

ASB's own staff said the bank had got off lightly in not having the holes in its systems highlighted.

Only after a senior ASB Bank manager was phoned, just before closing time, did communications staff return the paper's calls.

Public relations staff member Linley Wood rang to say the bank would be making no further statements.

Instead, she said everything was contained in a media statement emailed out to media after sentencing.

That file is called "Project V Media Statement". It is 182 words long and points out that only a "very small number" (30) of customers were affected.

But it offers little reassurance for the multitude of others who also bank with the ASB Bank. It repeats comments made in court - that Versalko conned customers who trusted him.

Explaining the system flaws and changes it had made, the bank said: "ASB has introduced additional processes and practices to further strengthen our security and protect our customers so that this situation does not happen again."

Forensic accountant Murray Lazelle said ASB needed to explain to customers exactly what had gone wrong and what had been done to fix it.

"They must be very embarrassed. This is another example of a reputable financial institution being asleep at the wheel."