WEMA BANK , CBN STAFF IN EFCC NET OVER FRAUD

Three employees of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and three staff of Wema Bank, were on Wednesday, remanded in Agodi Prison, Ibadan for defrauding the apex bank and Wema Bank Plc to the tune of N4,552,560,380.

 

 

Their remand followed their arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before a Federal High Court, sitting in Ibaban, Oyo State on a 20-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraud and stealing.

 

The suspects: Kolawole Babalola, Olaniran Muniru Adeola, Toogun Kayode Philip ( all Ex-CBN Staff); Oni Ademola Dolapo, Afolabi Esther Olunike,Ademola Ebenezer Adewale (staff of Wema Bank), were docked before Justice A. O Faji.

 

Specifically, the apex bank employees were alleged to have compromised the CBN’s Briquetting exercise by stealing huge sums of mutilated higher denomination Naira currencies meant to be exchanged for new notes. The apex bank’s former employees found willing accessories in the Wema Bank staff, who allegedly aided and abetted them in their crime.

 

When the charges were read to them, they pleaded not guilty.

 

Count one of the charges read:

 

“That you KOLAWOLE BABALOLA, OLANIRAN MUNIRU ADEOLA, TOOGUN KAYODE PHILIP, ONI ADEMOLA DOLAPO, AFOLABI ESTHER OLUNIKE,ADEMOLA EBENEZER ADEWALE and OMOTOSHO ABIMBOLA (now at large) between 2010 and 2012 in Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit: inducing the Central Bank of Nigeria to deliver property to Wema Bank Plc, to wit: an aggregate sum of N1, 391, 280, 190.00 as against the actual sum of N338, 719, 810 on the false pretence that the 175 boxes containing supposed mutilated currencies which were taken to the Ibadan Branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria had a total value of N1, 391, 280, 190.00 and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”.

 

Another count read:

 

That you KOLAWOLE BABALOLA, OLANIRAN MUNIRU ADEOLA and TOOGUN KAYODE PHILIP between 2010and2012 in Ibadan within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, induced the Central Bank of Nigeria to deliver property to Wema Bank Plc to wit: N1, 730, 000, 000, 000.00 as against the actual sum of N333, 521, 810 on the false pretence that the 173 boxes containing supposed mutilated N1, 000 notes which you received on behalf of the Central Bank of Nigeria contained a total sum of N1, 730, 000, 000, 000 and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 1 (1) (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006”.

 

In view of their pleas, prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), prayed the court for a trial date and that the accused be remanded in prison custody.

 

Justice Faji adjourned the matter to June 8, 2015 for hearing of the bail applications. He ordered that the defendants be remanded in Agodi prison custody, Ibadan.

 

In a related development, three former employees of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and one staff of First City Monument Bank, FCMB Plc, were also remanded in prison custody for defrauding the apex bank and FCMB a total sum of N296, 668, 100( Two Hundred and Ninety-Six Million, Six Hundred And Sixty- Eight Thousand, One Hundred Naira). They were remanded in prison on the orders of Justice Faji before whom they were arraigned by the EFCC, on a 15-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraud and stealing.

 

The suspects: KOLAWOLE BABALOLA, OLANIRAN MUNIRU ADEOLA, TOOGUN KAYODE PHILIP( all former staff of the CBN) and KEHINDE FADOKUN, OLAKUNLE SIJUADE ( both staff of FCMB ) were alleged to have defrauded the CBN and FCMB Bank Plc respectively.

 

Count one of the charges read:

 

“That you KOLAWOLE BABALOLA, OLANIRAN MUNIRU ADEOLA, TOOGUN PHILIP, KEHINDE FATOKUN and OLUKUNLE SIJUADE between 2010 and 2012 in Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence, to wit: inducing the Central Bank of Nigeria to deliver property to First City Monument Bank Plc, to wit: an aggregate sum of N115, 000, 000.00 as against the actual sum of N58, 331, 900 on the false pretence that the 13 boxes containing supposed mutilated currencies which were taken to the Ibadan branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria contained a total sum of N115, 000, 000.00 and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”.

 

When the charges were read to them, they pleaded not guilty.

 

In view of their pleas, prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), prayed the court for a trial date and that the accused persons be remanded in prison custody.

 

However, counsel to the 4th & 5 accused persons, Musibau Adetunbi make an oral application praying the court to remand the 4th accused person at the State Criminal Investigation Department Iyaganku, Ibadan to allow her have access to her nine-month old baby.

 

Justice Faji adjourned the matter to June 12, 2015 for hearing of bail applications. He ordered that 4th accused be remanded at SCID, Iyagnaku Ibadan.

 

All other accused persons were remanded in Agodi prison custody, Ibadan.

 

Ex-Wema Bank Chair, Others Docked Over N2b Steel Fraud

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a former Chairman of Wema Bank, Olapade Mohammed and two other directors of AKS Steel Nigeria Limited before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly stealing about N2 billion belonging to the company.

 

Olapade, who was also the Chairman of AKS Steel, was arraigned alongside the former Managing Director of the company, Tony Obinwa and a director, Sanni Aliyu Mohammed.

 

Olapade, Sanni and Obinwa were alleged to have fraudulently conspired with others still at large to launder about N2 billion belonging to AKS Steel through some Nigerian banks to Dubai in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and then India.

 

The funds were said to have been transferred without the company’s board resolution using another company identified as 3 Brothers Concept Nigeria Limited.

 

The affected banks are Diamond Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Spring Bank (now Enterprise Bank), Ecobank, Unity Bank, Intercontinental Bank (now Access Bank) and Equitorial Trust Bank (now Sterling Bank).

 

The accused persons were also alleged to have forged various documents and submitted same at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with the aim of further committing monumental fraud.

 

For instance, the trio were said to have forged a board resolution of the company dated October 31, 2005 and filed same at the CAC on January 17, 2006 whereby they purportedly unilaterally increase 3, 250, 000 shares of AKS Alloy PVT Limited, and reduced the status of Shinning Star from majority shareholder in the joint venture company of AKS Steel Nigeria Limited, whereas there was no Board meeting where such decision was made.

 

In one of the 32-count charges, the accused persons were said to have fraudulently stole and converted to their use, a total of N1.2 billion belonging to the company, while Olapade was also said to have fraudulently converted another $500, 000 (USD) to his use.

 

The crime, which allegedly contravened various sections of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2004, Criminal Code Laws of the Federation of 2004 and Miscellaneous Offences Act of 2004, was committed between January 2006 and March 2009.

 

Earlier, the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang had dismissed two separate applications by the accused persons seeking to quash the charges.

 

The accused had argued that the charges disclosed no prema facie case against them and that the charges were unknown to law.

 

They further contended that the EFCC had earlier exonerated them of the crime via a letter written to a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Wole Olanipekun (SAN).

 

But Justice Abang, in his ruling, held that the charges against the accused persons were very well known to law, adding that the mere typographical error in a criminal charge could not and should not serve as a basis to dismiss such charges.

 

“I disagree with the learned counsel for the accused persons that the counts were unknown to law. They were charged for money laundering and mentioning the wrong section in the charge and year cannot, in my view, invalidate the charge,” Justice Abang ruled.

 

Shareholders Petition N18b Scam In Wema Bank

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has begun investigations into how the sum of N18 billion insider- related credits was allegedly written off by management of Wema Bank.

 

Sources said immediate past Managing Director of the bank, Alhaji Alade Musiliu Adeleke, was invited and questioned over the allegations last week.

 

The EFCC, Daily Independent gathered, acted on the strength of a petition written to both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the anti-corruption watchdog by some aggrieved shareholders of the bank.

 

The EFCC confirmed interrogating Adeleke who replaced Mr. Babatunde Lemo, when he was appointed Deputy Governor, Financial Services Surveillance (FSS) of the CBN in December 2003. Until his appointment as CEO, Adeleke had been Executive Director, Information Technology and Operations since March 2001.

 

Though the aggrieved shareholders were said to be seeking the intervention of the Governor of the CBN, Prof. Charles Soludo, to compel Lemo to explain all he knows about the said bad loans, the apex bank said there was no truth to the allegations.

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has begun investigations into how the sum of N18 billion insider- related credits was allegedly written off by management of Wema Bank.

 

Sources said immediate past Managing Director of the bank, Alhaji Alade Musiliu Adeleke, was invited and questioned over the allegations last week.

 

The EFCC, Daily Independent gathered, acted on the strength of a petition written to both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the anti-corruption watchdog by some aggrieved shareholders of the bank.

 

The EFCC confirmed interrogating Adeleke who replaced Mr. Babatunde Lemo, when he was appointed Deputy Governor, Financial Services Surveillance (FSS) of the CBN in December 2003. Until his appointment as CEO, Adeleke had been Executive Director, Information Technology and Operations since March 2001.

 

Though the aggrieved shareholders were said to be seeking the intervention of the Governor of the CBN, Prof. Charles Soludo, to compel Lemo to explain all he knows about the said bad loans, the apex bank said there was no truth to the allegations.

 

N1.4bn Fraud Uncovered In Wema Bank’s Subsidiary

 

The management of Wema Bank Plc has uncovered a fraud allegedly perpetrated by a top officer of one of its subsidiaries running into about N1.427 billion.

 

According to sources within the bank who spoke on conditions of anonymity, the said officer (names withheld) was a top manager with a subsidiary of the bank until September 2008, when he was relieved of his duties on account of the fraud.

 

The man, who was also said to be a proprietor of a new generation church, was alleged to have been involved in a fraud on the account of one of the customers of the subsidiary.

 

The source disclosed to the Sunday Tribune that the said manager allegedly moved N350 million out of the account based on a letter he had forged. “The bank thereafter, wrote a petition to the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) against the diversion and stealing.

 

“During the course of investigations, it was discovered that the sum of N330 million was used to acquire a property in Ikoyi, Lagos. However, while the bank’s petition was for N350 million, the police, during the course of investigations, stated that the amount recoverable was N810 million,” the source stated.

 

The source added that, based on the fact that he could not return the money to the account, he handed the property over to the chairman of the company who sold the property for N810 million, while the police directed that the proceeds of the sale should be paid over to the bank.

 

According to the source, the sum of N655 million has been recovered with regard to this original fraud, leaving a balance un-recovered sum of N155 million from that particular fraud.

 

However, according to the source, there are a number of other frauds currently undergoing investigation, traceable to the same manager. According to documents made available to our reporter, the top manager allegedly fraudulently converted a total sum of N617,217,963.72 (Six hundred and seventeen million, two hundred and seventeen thousand, nine hundred and sixty-three naira, seventy-two kobo) from the subsidiary between August 2007 and September 2008.

 

For instance, he allegedly converted a N218 million cheque in favour of the company into an unidentified beneficiary’s account and allotted 10 million units of Wema Bank Plc’s shares currently worth N61,010,362.80 to himself without payment, among a series of other fraudulent activities.

 

How Lagos State Money Developed Wings In Wema Bank

 

Though the amount in question is considered not to be a colossal one, just about N6.5 Million, yet it just shows how porous the anti-fraud security network of Wema Bank Plc is. If an amount running into 6 digits can just develop wings and do the Houdini.

 

The money in question belongs to a parastatal of the Lagos Government, the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO). The money we hear is a collection of proceeds from fines imposed by the VIO & other payments by the office, between June & October of 2013. The phantom money disappeared from the Iponri branch of Wema Bank.

 

Apparently the account discrepancies was noticed after the VIO account department had done a reconciliation and to their shock the said amount that should be in their account had gone missing; so the alarm was raised.

 

The VIO office immediately demanded an investigation on their account with WEMA Bank and from the subsequent investigation, the man with the supposed magic wand (hands) turned out to be a Mr. Olakunle Olatunbosun, a teller at the bank who had been employed into the bank just 2 years before the incidence and had been transferred to the Iponri branch just a year ago.

 

In the course of the investigation by the panel set up by the bank, a staff of the VIO, Lateef Goloba, who works in the account department and who was directly in charge of the money deposited was able to show that he was not culpable.

 

While Lateef Goloba, deposited the funds and got his customer’s tellers duly stamped, the teller in charge, Mr. Olakunle Olatunbosun, did not stamp and file the bank’s control copies. So money was duly deposited but was not accounted for by Olatunbosun.

 

Working on the theory that the fraud must have been perpetrated and successful due to the active connivance of the 2 directly involved with the money, the panel set up to investigate the matter showed that Lateef Goloba was faithful in his work as he duly deposited all the funds and had evidence to show for it, only Mr. Olatunbosun couldn’t account for the monies paid to him and was found culpable.

 

So, Wema Bank agreed to refund the stolen money and then Mr. Olatunbosun was sacked and handed over to the police. The bank in going further also reprimanded the supervisor in charge of Olatunbosun’s department for condoning lapses and for not being alive to his duties and recommended that the staff members in that branch would forgo promotion no matter how fantastic their appraisal for one year.

 

N93.2 Million Fraud: Police Arraign Wema Bank Staffers

 

Two employees of Wema Bank Plc on were on Wednesday arraigned before a Lagos Magistrate’s Court by the police for allegedly defrauding the bank of N93.2 million.

 

The police prosecutor, Chidi Okoye, told the court that the defendants, Joseph Adeleye (32) and Bankole Alade (36) were clerks at the headquarters of the bank at Marina, Lagos.

 

The men are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, fraud and stealing.

 

The police prosecutor alleged that they committed the offence, with others at large, between November 2012 and July this year at the bank’s headquarters and at Emrey Hotel, Lagos.

 

He claimed that the defendants and their accomplices revealed the passwords of the “BSM and TOFT” (banking software) of their branches to fraudsters.

 

“The fraudsters gained access to Wema Bank Fund Transfer menu and transferred the above mentioned sum to various fraudulent accounts and also withdrew same within 24 hours.

 

“Adeleye and Alade also revealed the Impute Override Menu and the Override Menu of the bank to the fraudsters, which they used to steal the said amount, using 18 different bank accounts”

 

The account numberes were given as 0228590857, 0228600022, 0228556552, 0228646558, 0228261847, 0228661344, 0228451413, 0228738905, 0228624574, 0228620124, 0228688141, 0228747675, 0228676645, 0225920608, 0221550018, 0223528581, 0228578220 and 0224440459.

 

The alleged offences are said to be contrary to Sections 409, 333 and 285 (6) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

 

But the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

 

If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment, if no other charges are considered.

 

They were granted bail by the Magistrate, Ms. Abimbola Awogboro, in the sum of N5 million with two sureties in like sum each.