By News Desk
.Plans afoot to invite Ex-SGF for interrogation over $6.23m cash stolen from CBN vaults
. Manhunt ongoing for Mustapha’s alleged collaborator, prime suspect in SGF’s office, letter dispatched to Akume for information
. Top CBN officials arrested, detained, make damning revelations, write confessional statements
. ‘Emefiele endorsed payment of illegal withdrawal of $6.23m from CBN vaults’
. Lemo, two foreign shareholders of TTB invited for fresh questioning Thursday over Union Bank’s acquisition
. 259 anti-corruption coalition demands immediate trial, prosecution of all indicted persons
Report of the Special Investigation team set up by President Bola Tinubu puts a lie to the claims of innocence by the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele; ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha and Chairman of Titan Trust Bank, Mr Tunde Lemo regarding the alleged massive looting of the nation’s apex bank, First News investigations have revealed.
According to our findings, Emefiele, Mustapha, Lemo and other senior CBN officials, after comprehensive and thorough investigations, have been found to have a lot of questions to answer and will face criminal charges in the competent courts of the land at the appropriate time.
The Special Investigator on the CBN and Related Entities, Jim Obazee, had last Wednesday submitted his team’s final report tagged, ‘Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable offences) to President Bola Tinubu. Tinubu had in a letter dated July 28, 2023, appointed Obazee, a former Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, as the apex bank’s special investigator.
Our investigations further revealed that the copy of the comprehensive report of the Special Investigator, which is about 234 pages, is only with President Tinubu, while the one currently in circulation in the media is “just an abridged version.”
The Special Investigation team, it was learnt, is making arrangements to invite the former SGF, Mustapha, for interrogation after the New Year holidays, regarding the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of $6.23m cash from the vaults of the Abuja branch of the CBN.
The team, it was also gathered, is currently on the trail of a prime suspect said to have worked with Mustapha while he was the SGF. An official letter, it was learnt, has been dispatched to the incumbent SGF, Mr George Akume, concerning the wanted prime suspect.
The report further revealed that a CBN official admitted in a written statement that he “acted in collaboration with an Assistant Director in the Banking Supervision Department of the CBN and some yet-to-be-identified persons to plan and carry out the stealing of the $6.23m from the vaults of the apex bank branch in Abuja.
Already, some top CBN officials have been arrested and currently being detained over the matter. The detained suspects, it was learnt, had also already made damning revelations and written confessional statements.
Last week, Emefiele was interrogated for two days in Kuje prison over the $6.23m fraud, the payment of which the report has found was endorsed by the former CBN governor.
Also, following the insistence of the Chairman of Titan Trust Bank (TTB), Mr Tunde Lemo, that the acquisition of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc followed due process and met all regulatory requirements, including that of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria, the office of the apex bank’s Special Investigator, Jim Obazee, has summoned the former CBN deputy governor and two foreign directors of TTB, Cornelius Vink and Rahul Savara for further questioning.
Lemo, according to the invitation letter from the Team of the Special Investigator, sighted by First News on Monday night, is to come along to the “meeting” with the Special Investigator, Obazee, fixed for Thursday, December 28, 2023, at the Department of Force Intelligence (DFI), Abuja, with both Vink and Savara in person.
The Obazee-led Special Investigation team had found out during investigations, among others, that Emefiele illegally lodged billions of Naira in no fewer than 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom and China without the approval of the CBN Board of Directors and the CBN Investment Committee. Specifically, the team discovered that Emefiele lodged £543,482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks alone without authorisation.
But the embattled CBN governor has denied this allegation in a statement on Sunday, saying the fixed deposits in the foreign accounts were outside his knowledge.
He said only the relevant departments of the CBN had the authority to open such accounts.
But the Special Investigator’s report debunked the former CBN governor’s claim, saying, “All the accounts where the billions were lodged have all been traced by the investigator.”
The report partly read, “The former governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele invested Nigeria’s money without authorisation in 593 foreign bank accounts in United States, China and United Kingdom, while he was in charge.”
Emefiele, who was only last week released from Kuje prison, after perfecting the N300m bail granted him by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on November 22, is currently facing trial over N1.2bn procurement fraud.
The report has also countered Emefiele’s claim that he got approval of the former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 to redesign some denominations of the Naira. He also claimed in his press statement that he handed over the approval to the Special Investigator appointed by President Tinubu.
But the Special Investigation team’s report sighted by First News indicated that the former CBN governor is likely to face criminal charges over his handling of the Naira redesign policy. The report has recommended his prosecution for the illegal issuance of the Nigerian currency in contravention of Section 19 of the CBN Act. Emefiele is to face criminal charges alongside Tunde Sabiu, a former aide to ex-President Buhari and 12 other top directors of the apex bank.
The report said investigations revealed that the illegal Naira redesign was sold to Buhari at Sabiu’s instance and it was implemented without the approval of the CBN Board.
The report stated that Buhari didn’t approve of the Naira redesign, adding that it was Sabiu who first broached the idea and told Emefiele to consider redesigning the Naira. On October 6,2022, Emefiele wrote to formally inform Buhari that to redesign and reconfigure N1000, N500 and N200 notes.
According to the report, “The former President tagged along but did not approve the redesign as required by law. Buhari merely approved that the currency be printed in Nigeria. The redesign was only mentioned to the Board of the CBN on December 15, 2022, after Emefiele had awarded the contract to the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc on October 31, 2022.”
The report added that Emefiele contracted the redesign of the Naira to De La Rue of the UK for £205,000 pounds under the vote head of the Currency Operations Department after NSPM said it could not deliver contract within a short time frame.
The report also revealed that N61.5bn was set aside for the printing of the new notes and N31.79bn had already been paid as advance.
The findings in the report further revealed that as of August 9,2023, N769bn of the newly redesigned notes were in circulation.
The report also debunked the claims by the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, that he knew nothing about the $6.23m illegally withdrawn from the CBN vaults with a forged presidential letter for the purported payment of allowances to foreign election observers under the Buhari administration.
The former SGF, in a press statement, had described the allegation as “outrageous and unsubstantiated,” stressing that he never knew of the purported “Presidential Directive” for the withdrawal of the cash from the CBN vault.
Mustapha then asked the Federal Government to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the $6.23m scandal.
Findings by the Special Investigation team contained in the report recently submitted to President Tinubu, however, recommended the trial of Mustapha and 12 other top officials of the CBN over the alleged fraudulent withdrawal.
The report said the alleged removal of the money from the vaults of the Foreign Payments Office of the Abuja branch of the CBN between 7th and 8th February 2023 was captured on CCTV.
In the report, the Special Investigator said he viewed the CCTV footage of the stealing of the cash done about two weeks to the 2023 presidential election purportedly on the order of a letter dated 23rd January 2023, with a signature mark, ‘Muhammadu Buhari’ sent to a government with the caption, ‘Presidential Directive on Foreign Election Observer Missions.’
The report said this was followed by another letter dated 26th January 2023, with a signature mark, directed to ‘Mr Godwin Emefiele, the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria,’ for payment of the sum of $6.23m as ‘a contingent logistics advance…in line with Presidential directive and another follow-up letter dated 31st January 2023, was sent to the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, requesting for approval to effect payment of the sum of $6.23m.
The report added that the fraudulent withdrawal was uncovered on December 4 when the Special Investigator issued a Request for Information from the CBN management, accusing the former SGF and top CBN officials of engaging in “forgery, concealment, conspiracy and fraud” regarding the withdrawal of the funds.
The report further revealed that a CBN official admitted in a written statement that he “acted in collaboration with an Assistant Director in the Banking Supervision Department of the CBN and some yet-to-be-identified persons to plan and carry out the stealing of the $6.23m from the vaults of the apex bank branch in Abuja.
Already, some top CBN officials have been arrested and currently being detained over the matter. The detained suspects, it was learnt, had already made damning revelations and written confessional statements.
The Special Investigation team, it was further learnt, is making arrangements to invite the former SGF, Mustapha, for interrogation after the New Year holidays.
The Special Investigation team, it was also gathered, is currently on the trail of a prime suspect said to have worked with Mustapha while he was the SGF. An official letter, it was learnt, has been dispatched to the incumbent SGF, Mr George Akume, concerning the wanted prime suspect.
Last week, Emefiele was interrogated for two days in Kuje prison over the $6.23m fraud, the payment of which the report has found was endorsed by the former CBN governor.
According to the report, “There is therefore an appearance of concealment by officers who occupied some positions up to and around the period 7 and 8th February 2023.”
The report therefore recommended the prosecution of the Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors and Branch Controllers over the fraudulent cash withdrawal.
Meanwhile, following the insistence of the Chairman of Titan Trust Bank (TTB), Mr Tunde Lemo, that the acquisition of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc followed due process and met all regulatory requirements, including that of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria, the office of the apex bank’s Special Investigator, Jim Obazee, has summoned the former CBN deputy governor and two foreign directors of TTB, Cornelius Vink and Rahul Savara for further questioning.
Lemo, according to the invitation letter from the Team of the Special Investigator, sighted by First News on Monday night, is to come along to the “meeting” with the Special Investigator, Obazee, fixed for Thursday, December 28, 2023, at the Department of Force Intelligence (DFI), Abuja, with both Vink and Savara in person.
Lemo had in a recent newspaper interview, following the release of the report of the special investigation into the activities of the CBN and other related entities, insisted that the establishment of TTB and the acquisition of Union Bank were transparent and duly verified by the relevant regulatory bodies.
But the final report of the special investigation submitted to President Bola Tinubu last Wednesday had accused the immediate past governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele, of using stolen funds to acquire Union Bank and Keystone Bank through proxies.
Already, some suspected persons, including some senior officials of the CBN are being detained over the matter. First News gathered that they had already made startling revelations and confessional statements to the team of the special investigation.
The TTB Chairman, it was learnt, had however been begging the Special Investigator behind the scene for leniency regarding the matter. He was also said to have been directed by the Special investigation team to put his pleas in writing, but he’s yet to do so.
However, a coalition of 259 anti-corruption, civil society and human rights groups, Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER) has urged President Bola Tinubu to order the immediate trial of all the indicted persons and entities.
COTER also urged the President to initiate moves to recover the country’s stolen funds and properties being held by the indicted persons.
The Team of the Special Investigator in its invitation letter to Lemo titled, “Re: CBN investigation activities: Invitation for a follow up meeting with the Special Investigator,” had described the TTB Chairman’s defence of the acquisition of Union Bank as “offensive”.
It noted that Lemo’s “offensive defence” of Union Bank’s acquisition by TTB contradicted the earlier statements made “under caution” by all those interrogated by the Special Investigator over the transaction, including Lemo himself, last August at the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters in Abuja.
The Team’s invitation letter also stated that the two foreign businessmen and shareholders of TTB had shunned an earlier invitation sent to them on August 28, 2023, in which they were requested to provide certain documents and information.
It added that up till Lemo’s public “offensive defence” of TTB’s acquisition of Union Bank on Sunday, the Special Investigator never heard from the two foreign shareholders and did not receive the requested documents from them.
The invitation letter signed by DCP Eloho Okpoziakpo, Head of Operations, Office of the Special Investigator, and dated December 24, 2023, therefore, warned Lemo to inform both foreign shareholders of TTB to come along to the Thursday “meeting” with all the documents/information requested from them since August.
It also informed the TTB Chairman that he’ll be expected to make “additional statements” during the Thursday meeting with the Special Investigator.
The team, however, warned Lemo that if both Vink and Savara failed to honour Thursday’s invitation and provide/defend the requested documents/information, they’ll be deemed to have “decided to forfeit their purported shareholdings in TTB and Union Bank of Nigeria, irrespective of which vehicle that they are using to own the purported shares.”
It further warned the TTB Chairman not to also fail to attend the meeting physically “to provide additional statements to your earlier statements made in August 2023,” adding that should he decide to stay away, “It will be construed that you misled the Nigerian public with your reaction in the Punch newspapers today which has gained wide publicity in both electronic and print media.
“This invitation is to further ensure that it is beyond reasonable doubt that the Federal Government of Nigeria has given you a fair hearing.”
The Team of the Special Investigator had in its earlier invitation to Vink, one of the foreign shareholders of TTB, requested him to avail the Special Investigator with the underlisted document/information:
i) Company registration, ownership, shareholding structure, profile, particulars of directors and related activities with regard to the two companies owned by Vink and Savara that acquired the controlling shares in Union Bank.
A) Luxis International DMCC, Dubai, UAE
B) Magna International DMCC, Dubai, UAE
It added that “further details of the said company should include the documentation that led to the licensing of Titan Trust Bank and the acquisition of controlling shareholding of the Union Bank of Nigeria by these entities, proof of funds, internationally verifiable bank statements (from inception of the entities to date) and the shareholders that gave interest-free loans to the two entities separately (names, nationality, source of the fund, proof of such funds, bank statements) as well as the relationships of the activities with Mr Andrew Chukwudi Ojei, Jerome Olagunju Shogbon, Rahul Savara, Winston Odeh, Adaeze Udensi, Ekene Samuel Louis, Godwin Emefiele, Macombe Omoile, Tunde Lemo, Mudassir Amry, Faruk Gumel, Oluremi Oni, Vink Corporation Middle East FCZ (together with the details of the shareholder that also gave Vink Corporation interest-free loan) and your good self.
iii) Details of how Trust receipts (from Standard Chartered Bank), Zenith Nigeria Plc and Zenith Nigeria Plc and Zenith Bank (UK) was involved in the entire arrangements
iv) Minutes of the Board meetings, copy of the audited financial statements and Management letter that arose from the audit of the financial statements of the entities listed in (i) above as well as those of TTB and UBN from 2018 to date.
v) Details of any forbearance received from the Central Bank of Nigeria for UBN (before acquisition by TTB) and why. Should you not know, please, come along with anyone who knows about it (with evidence).
vi) Details of the loan capital from Afrexim Bank (Egypt), collaterals thereto and the involvement of the CBN in the entire arrangement.
vii) Any foreign exchange dealings that transacted with the CBN as retail or wholesale or facilitator with TGI, TTB, UBN, Luxis, Magna and other related entities, no matter how remotely connected.
viii) Any other document(s) that can assist the Special Investigator in arriving at an informed decision on the investigations of TTB, UBN, CBN and any other person(s) of interest in the entire arrangement.
5) You are to come along with Mr Rahul Savara (in person) along with the requested documents to the National Headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja by 4pm on Friday 1st September 2023 for interaction in connection with the investigation.
However, a coalition of 259 anti-corruption, civil society and human rights groups, Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER) has called on President Bola Tinubu to order the immediate handing over of all the indicted persons and entities to the anti-graft agencies for immediate trial.
COTER said the President should also initiate the urgent recovery of the country’s stolen funds and properties being held by these indicted persons.
COTER warned the indicted persons to stop playing on the collective intelligence of Nigerians with their puerile defence of their looting of the nation’s commonwealth, having betrayed the confidence Nigerians reposed in them while they occupied public offices.
COTER’s President, Dr Peter Chima Chukwu and General Secretary, Mallam Auta Ibrahim Koko, stated that the defence of the heists by various indicted persons should be completely disregarded.
COTER said, “Emefiele and other indicted persons’ tactics to put up unnecessary defence are aimed at shifting the blame on former president Buhari to escape prosecution and recovery of looted funds from them.
“All they are doing now is mere damage control. Unfortunately, it won’t fly with the Nigerian people, Government and the international community. They must all account for all their sins and transgressions against the Nigerian people.
“President Tinubu must not allow this matter to be swept under the carpet, Nigerian people and the international community are watching to see the outcome of all the investigations and how the report of the Special Investigator will be implemented.”
Credit: FirstNews Newspaper.
