Skip to main content

How Central Bank Officials Defrauded Nigeria of N8 Billion – EFCC


According to the anti-graft agency, top officials of the Nigeria Central Bank, CBN, colluded with officials of private banks to defraud the country of about N8 billion. The scam involved the "theft and recirculation of defaced and mutilated currencies. The officials are set to be arraigned on Tuesday.

Read the EFCC statement below:

EFCC To Arraign Six CBN Big Wigs, 16 Others for N8billion Currency Fraud June 2
The Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC has concluded arrangement to arraign in court, five top executives of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, implicated in a mega scam involving the theft and recirculation of defaced and mutilated currencies. 
The suspects drawn from various business units of the apex bank are to be docked by the anti-graft agency before a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, from Tuesday 
June 2, 2015 to Thursday June 4, 2015. 
They include Patience Okoro Eye( Abuja) , Afolabi Olufemi( Lagos), Kolawole Babalola (Ibadan), Olaniran Muniru Adeola (Ibadan), Fatai Yusuf, Adekunle (Head, Security, CBN, (Ibadan) and Ilori Adekunle Sunday,(Akure). 
The remaining sixteen suspects are drawn from various commercial banks who were found to have conspired with the CBN executives to swing the heist. 
All the suspects who are currently in the custody of the EFCC are now ruing the day they literally allowed greed and craze for materialism to becloud their sense of judgement and responsibility, when they elected to help themselves to tones of defaced Naira notes. Instead of carrying out the statutory instruction to destroy the currency, they substituted it with newspapers neatly cut to Naira sizes and proceeded to recycle the defaced and mutilated currency. 
The fraud is partly to blame for the failure of government monetary policy over the years as currency mop up exercises by the apex bank failed to check the inflationary pressure on the economy. 
The lid on the scam which is widely suspected to have gone on unchecked for years, was blown on November 3, 2014 via a petition to the EFCC alleging that over N6, 575, 549, 370.00( Six Billion, Five Hundred and Seventy-Five Million, Five-Hundred and Forty-Nine Thousand, Three Hundred and Seventy Naira) was cornered and discreetly recycled by light manipulated top executives of the CBN at the Ibadan branch. 
The suspects, who were members of the Briquetting Panel, plotted their way to infamy on September 8, 2014, while carrying out a Briquetting exercise at the CBN Branch, Ibadan. 
In banking parlance, Briquetting is disintegration and destruction of counted and audited dirty notes. By this practice, depositor banks usually take mutilated notes to the CBN in exchange for fresh notes equivalent of the amount deposited. 
The depositor banks in this instance are Zenith Bank, FCMB, Wema Bank, Access Bank, First Bank, Skye Bank, Ecobank and Sterling Bank. 
But while carrying out the assignment, the team were alleged to have found one of the currency boxes filled only with old newspapers rather than 20 bundles of N1000 notes.
A similar case, according to investigation, had been discovered on September 22, 2014 when a box that was supposed to contain N500 notes to the tune of N5billion was filled with old newspapers. 
Unlike in the past, this fraud could not be swept under the carpet, as a member of the Briquetting Panel from the Osogbo branch blew the lid on the illicit deal. In a statement, the informant stated that the exercise was designed to last between August 4 and 8, 2014.
The 35-year-old, however, stated that she discovered a strange 'sight' while opening the third box on the second day of the exercise. It was a discovery that beat her ken. 
She added that she confronted the other members of the panel, including Eye, Head, Briquetting Panel; Treasury Assistant; Coordinator and Head, Security, CBN, Ibadan, who all assured her that they would look into it. But she later found out that it was all a ruse. She said she later found out that Eye not only maintained sealed lips over the matter but omitted it from her report.  
A five-count charge awaits the suspects as they prepare to face the wrath of the law.
PremiumTimes

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Speaker Dogara Flies To Delta In Private Jet To Commission Church Altar

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, traveled to Delta State in a private jet earlier today in order to commission an altar in a church in Ubulu-Uku, a town in Aniocha local government area.  Speaker Yakubu Dogara The altar, which was financed by Amaechi Mrakpor, a pastor of "King Jesus and I" who was  newly elected member of the House of Representatives representing Aniocha/Oshimili Federal constituency, will be commissioned tomorrow at 10 a.m.  On arriving in Asaba, Mr. Dogara paid a courtesy call on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and later met with traditional rulers in the state. Rep. Amaechi Mrakpor built a church alter and plans to celebrate her birthday with Dogara When a correspondent of SaharaReporters reached the speaker, he confirmed that he was in Delta State, explaining that he was in Asaba on his way to Ubulu-Uku to commission a project. Asked why he did not travel on one of the planes in the presidential fleet, the speaker di

Goodluck Jonathan Spotted Inside First Bank In Abuja For BVN (Photo)

The former President walked into the Gwarimpa branch of First Bank in Abuja to process his BVN. Trust Nigerians, they rushed to take pictures with him.......

Village girls should be the best choice for marriage - See why

Stumbled on this piece about what a guy wrote, advising guys on the choice of a lady for marriage; especially in the recent economic situation of Nigeria. Read what he wrote: In this new world of rising dollars, it is only normal to take certain austerity measures in areas of our lives; marriage is one of those areas. No one will subsidize a wedding for you, so you need to start acting smart in your choice of a partner. As a fall out of our crashing currency, the economy needs to be expanded, and we are now been encouraged to buy local products in order to grow the Naira. Getting involved with a city girl is pretty expensive, the only way to go local is to pick from any of the good village girls. The cost of maintenance is small compared to a city girl. The average village girl does not know how to club, she won't even ask you about it. She doesn't eat chocolates and Sharwarma. She's never heard of Sushi and never been to Shoprite. Her hairdo is never beyond N200 b