The Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested 6 top officials of Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN, and 16 other workers of commercial banks in the country over a
mega scam involving N8 billion.
The suspects were reportedly picked
up by operatives of the anti-graft agency for stealing and putting into
circulation defaced and mutilated Nigerian currency notes to the tune of N8
billion meant for destruction.
All the suspects have already
been taken into EFCC custody preparatory to their arraignment at the Federal
High Court, Ibadan, tomorrow. The trial will run till June 4 in a bid to speed
up the prosecution of the suspects by the court.
A statement signed by the Head
of Media of the EFCC, Mr. WilsonUwujaren, gave the names of the suspects as:
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).
Burned old newspapers in place
of defaced Naira notes.
The 16 suspects, who colluded
with the CBN officials to commit the fraud, are officials drawn from Zenith
Bank, FCMB, Wema Bank, Access Bank, FirstBank, Skye Bank, Ecobank and Sterling
Bank.
The officials helped themselves
with the mutilated N8 billion cash and burned old newspapers in place of the
defaced Naira notes, thereby making a mockery of the CBN rule relating to such
money.
But the suspects ran out of
luck when one of the bank officials petitioned the EFCC, alleging on November
3, 2014 that over N6,575,549, 370 was cornered and discreetly recycled by
light-fingered top executives of the CBN at the Ibadan branch.
The suspects, who were members
of the Briquetting Panel, which handles the destruction of defaced notes from
commercial banks, decided to play a fast one on the nation and smile to their
banks but ran into a trouble yesterday.
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.
What Briquetting panel
discovered
But while carrying out the
assignment, the team was 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 N5 billion was filled with old
newspapers.
But unlike in the past, the
latest 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 whistle blower, however, stated that she discovered a strange
‘sight’ while opening the third box on the second day of the exercise.
She added that she confronted
the other members of the panel, including Eye, Head, Briquetting Panel;
Treasury Assistant; Coordinator and Head, Security, CBN, Ibadan, they merely
assured her that they would look into it but did nothing about it months after.
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.
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