News

Ex Staffer Exposes N11b Fraud At Fidelity Bank

Published

10 years ago

October 22, 2014

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Mr Frank Ogboko, a former staffer in Fidelity bank’s Internal Audit and Cost Control Unit just made very grave revelations in a petition. Along with docuements to back his assertions.
The former Fidelity Bank employee, Mr. Ogboko, a Chartered Accountant and a member of ICAN since 1990 has let to light discrepancies and fraud involving two companies, Oil Recovery and Environmental Services Limited and ERES N.V limited of depositors fund totaling N11billion, culminating from huge debit balances from rogue loans and capital market fraudulent activities involving both companies and the management of Fidelity Bank.According to Ogboko, who was appointed as a staff of Fidelity Bank on 1st November 2002,

he noticed the discrepancy in the balance sheet and notified his immediate boss Mr. Boye Ogunbolade, saying that the actions of the bank was not in line the banks’ corporate and financial guidelines, but was persuaded to drop the matter and was eventually sacked.
He said. “Why my appointment was terminated was that I discovered a huge fraud perpetrated by officers of Fidelity bank. The officers involved are; Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi ( the former M.D) Chief Willie Obiano ( The Current Governor of Anambra State) Mr. Ikemefuna Mbagwu, Mr. Sam Obijiaku and Mr. Boye Ogunbolade.
“These are the officers involved in the fraud.
“I alerted Mr. Ogunbolade, my immediate boss that what the bank is doing is not good, that we are not making provisions in line with the provisional guidelines, and that is the N6.3 billion, and that we committed capital market fraud which is very very bad.
“He took offence and reported the matter to the M.D (Mr. Ihejiahi). They removed me from the unit, took me to the Corporate Services Unit.
“Right from the time the two companies took the loan, and they’ve taken subsequent loan from the bank, it beholds in the directors of the company to pay back the loans they took, but they did not and frantic effort was made by the bank to recover the loans.
“The bank statement relating to the accounts of both companies was above N3 billion each for the companies as the debit balance as at 31st October 2005. The two account balances were not cleared by the directors of the company because if the directors paid off the loan, they will give us the instruments used in paying back the loan.
They cannot pay it by cash. The bank wiped it off the system.
“The other case of the capital market fraud. What they did was that they will take money from the vault of Fidelity Bank. Vaults in various branches nationwide.
“They have regional officers in charge. They direct the regional officers to source money from their regions to pay into named accounts.
“These monies are then used by the beneficiaries to buy Fidelity bank shares. This implies that the board bought the shares by themselves. This they use in financing the initial public offer that they went for and then they say the shares have been oversubscribed.
“No, it is the depositors’ money that they used in buying the shares.
“And then they created loan accounts for such individuals. Those loan accounts are then converted into loans without appraisals and without recouping the funds.
“You now find out that the beneficiaries of those loans might not be able to pay back the loans because of the share prices explosion which brings the share prices down. The account beneficiaries still carry the loans the bank being what they are, know how to manage it. Those loans are created for people who did not apply for loans.
“In this case, the Central Bank of Nigeria did not go for investigations.
“This is how the capital market fraud was of N4.7 billion and the falsification of account to the tune of N6.3 billion totaling N11 Billion came about.
“This is what Chief Willie Obiano and his group including Mr. Peter Obi (the former governor of Anambra State) did, because Obi was the chairman then. It was a big fraud they committed.
“The two companies were in existence. I have documents showing their correspondence with Fidelity Bank that they existed.
“They can float a company; make A B or C as directors. Things can happen in Nigeria. The person will be coming to take money and give it to them.
“At the end of it all they know that, oh we cannot payback this money, they will just remove it gently from the system.
“I reported this matter to the then Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim. I sat down one on one with him, I gave him copies of the documents. I reported this matter to the EFCC, I gave them copies, I have my own copies and nothing happened.
“Even when I came out, I had discussions with the office of the NSA, this matter went to them. They did investigations. They said Francis, what you did was correct; the bank actually did the fraud. The fraud was actually committed, they investigated and it is true.
“Nigeria and her corruption and settlement palaver, I don’t know how they were settling. The IG of police would receive a document and nothing happened. EFCC would receive a document and nothing happened.
“When the whole thing happened it was Tafida that was there at the EFCC, I am surprised the way things are happening in Nigeria.
“The names of the Officers of the bank involved were mentioned in the petitions I sent to the EFCC, Reginald Ihejiahi, Chief Willie Obiano, Sam Obijiaku, Ikemefuna Mbagwu, and Boye Ogunbolade. These were the key officers that were in charge of the affairs of the bank.
“The bank is an entity. They cannot say they were not aware of what was happened at the bank because we gave then reports every day.
“Because of this, there have been several threats to my life. I don’t stay in my house until this case is over. For them if I am no longer alive, then this case is over because nobody will challenge them. I am a shareholder of the bank and also a former staff of the bank.
“I spent nearly one year in Ikoyi Prisons but was later granted bail in the High Court by Justice Kehinde Johnson. Since I came out, for the bank to go and prosecute this matter now, they refused going because they know that with the documents I have they will close down the bank. The N4.7 billion capital market fraud and N6.3 billion falsification of account.
“Chief Willie Obiano was there, Mr. Peter Obi was the chairman when all these was going on, and the money they used in paying to the account of Mr. Peter Obi’s company, Next International, I have documents relating to that.
“Since that thing was done, even though I was released on bail by the High court, they sent assassins to my house to look for me, but thank God I was not in the house that day. After that I had to relocate.”

Related Topics:Fidelity Bank Mr Frank Ogboko

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Panic As Governor’s Official Car Got Stolen

Published

3 months ago

September 11, 2024

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Confusion and fear was the order of the day at one of the Government houses in the Southwest some days ago when one of the official vehicles of the Governor, a bullet-proof jeep allegedly disappeared from the garage.

The SUV which is said to be one of the three bullet-proof vehicles being used for the Governor’s official assignment was discovered missing.

The Governor who was out of the country on a short, rest leave was claimed to have been disturbed when he was alerted.

Sources claimed it wasn’t the first time things would get missing at the Governor’s private residence.

‘There had been series of thefts, ranging from missing cash, phones and other expensive items, it’s usually swept under the carpet. Indiscipline is the order of the day here’, a source confirmed this to papermacheonline.

The State Governor, a quiet individual who is spending his second time in office was said to have been disturbed by the occurrence that he had to cut short his leave and return home. One of his closest aides was also kidnapped recently.

Business

Former First Bank Employee Accuses Oba Otudeko, Bisi Onasanya Of Massive Fraud

Published

3 months ago

August 27, 2024

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A former First Bank of Nigeria Limited employee, Adesuwa Ezenwa, has accused billionaire industrialist Oba Otudeko and former Managing Director Bisi Onasanya of massive fraud during Otudeko’s tenure as chairman of FBN Holdings Plc.

In court documents filed at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Ezenwa alleges that unsecured loans of approximately N12 billion were granted to a company in which Otudeko has significant investments, disguised as loans to Stallion Group of Companies.

Ezenwa, who was summarily dismissed in October 2016, is seeking redress for her termination and demanding N500 million in damages and N25 million in legal costs. She claims that she was made to bear the consequences of granting unsecured loan facilities worth billions of naira to companies linked to Otudeko and Onasanya, while her superiors who approved the credit were not penalized.

Ezenwa joined First Bank in 2002 and became a relationship manager in the corporate banking division in February 2016. She alleges that her superiors, including Abiodun Olatunji and Cecilia Majekodunmi, who worked closely with Onasanya, were involved in the fraudulent activities.

“As a relationship manager, I worked under the supervision and direction of my branch manager and group head and signed official correspondence only after they had approved and/or signed same. I had no independent authority in relation to the grant or disbursement of loans or other banking facilities,” Mrs Ezenwa said.

According to the claimant, she executed a large number of documents while she was still employed by First Bank, but only after approval by her bosses and on their direction.

She said she was summoned on 25 August 2015 to appear before a credit disciplinary committee reviewing facilities availed to a company known as Supply and Services Limited, a subsidiary of Royal Ceramics Group, one of the major customers of the bank.

The plaintiff said the committee could not determine whether she had a personal interest in any of the loans granted or whether she made any gain related to her duties. She said she was, however, blamed during proceedings for not whistleblowing on some of the deals endorsed by Mr Olatunji and Mrs Majekodunmi.

“The admonition was most unfair and unwarranted as I was in no position to whistleblow on my superiors … The persons to whom these reports would have been made were the very persons who were the perpetrators of the misdeeds,” she said.

A litany of allegations against Mr Otudeko

Mrs Ezenwa disclosed that unsecured loans of roughly N12 billion were availed, on one occasion, to a company in which Mr Otudeko has significant investment even though the facility was masked as loans granted to Stallion Group of Companies, which later spotted the false entry in its statement of account and complained.

In one case in 2012, she further alleged, an unsecured credit estimated at N2 billion was granted to Broadwaters Resources Company Nigeria Limited, which ended up being a conduit pipe used by Mrs Majekodunmi and Mr Onasanya to siphon monies from the bank. The claimant said the loan was never repaid.

“Out of the N12 billion camouflaged as lending to the Stallion Group, N8.21 billion was transferred through various accounts to a final destination account belonging to a company known as V-TECH LTD, which belongs to the chairman of FBN Holdings, Oba Otudeko, while the sum of N4.45 billion out of the same fictitious facility was transferred to Ontario Oil and Gas. The facility remains unpaid to date,” Mrs Ezenwa said in court fillings.

According to her, several similar loans were granted by Mr Olatunji and Mrs Majekodunmi, including to Supplies and Services Limited, which were “subsequently sublet and disbursed in smaller bits to several customers on more profitable terms to both officers.”

Swap Technologies and Telecomms Plc, Orbit Cargo, Netconstruct Nigeria Limited, and High-Performance Distributions Limited were among the companies named as beneficiaries of the loan disbursement.

Mrs Ezenwa disclosed that such loans could not have been granted without the involvement of the board of First Bank, considering that the amounts involved were huge and above the approval limits of the executive directors, the vice president and the managing director of the bank.

According to the complainant, her dismissal by the bank brought her into disrepute, threatening her chances of securing employment in reputable companies in future.

“The action of the defendant (First Bank) has consequently caused the claimant untold mental distress and is all the more damaging as the claimant is in her thirties and has simply been made a scapegoat for the malfeasance of some of the lapses of the management of the bank,” she said.

Among other demands, Mrs Ezenwa is urging the court to declare that there was no basis for the bank to dismiss her.

“She is being made a scapegoat for a lot of questionable transactions within the bank, which she is claiming innocent of,” Seyi Sowemimo, the claimant’s lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday. “So far, the trial has started. We have subpoenaed the EFCC, and we have subpoenaed the central bank to bring the audit reports of the bank,” Seyi Sowemimo, the claimant’s lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES.

The allegations have sparked a legal battle, with Ezenwa seeking justice for her dismissal and damages for the fraudulent activities she claims to have uncovered.

Business

“AMCON MD In Trouble Over Keystone Bank Acquisition By Father In-law”, Isa Funtua

Published

3 months ago

August 27, 2024

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Why Bank Customers Are Making Panic Withdrawals…

Following the controversy generated by the leading opposition party, the People’s Democratic party, PDP, over the alleged acquisition of Keystone bank and Etisalat by Alhaji Isa Funtua and the CEO of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered probe into the alleged fraud.

A highly placed source at the headquarters of the Economic and financial crimes Commission, EFCC yesterday told daybreak that the President was thoroughly embarrassed with the allegations linking him to the transactions.

According to the source, a discrete panel will be set up soon comprising of the Chairman of the EFCC, representative of the DSS, ICPC, federal ministry of Justice to look into the allegations.

The source further added that, both Isa Funtua, Ahmed Kuru, the governor of the central bank of Nigeria, CBN, Chief Godwin Emefiele and management Staff of the Keystone Bank and 9Mobile will be quizzed by the operatives of the EFCC for some interactions.

Recently, a mindboggling scandal broke out to public knowledge about how Keystone Bank and 9Mobile were acquired in controversial circumstances by the business interests of one Alhaji Isa Funtua, a close friend of President Muhammadu Buhari, via the instrumentality of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

The PDP challenged the federal government to come out clean on what could be a serious dent on its anti-corruption stance, there is indeed no smoke without fire.

The leading opposition party also confirmed fact that the son-in-law of Isa Funtua, Ahmed Kuru, is the current CEO of AMCON.

Before him, the previous CEO, Chike Obi, was a first-class gentleman and technocrat who was strangely removed from office before the expiration of his term and was replaced with Kuru, the son-in-law of Isa Funtua.

Now, let us get into the insider details of how Funtua bought Keystone Bank and 9Mobile in the most bizarre of dealings that circumvent the laws of the land. Keystone Bank was sold by the current CEO of AMCON to his father-in-law, Funtua, without any AMCON Board’s approval and with the active connivance of CBN and NDIC at a grossly undervalued price of 25 Billion Naira. To put things in context, let us recall that Enterprise Bank was sold for over 60 Billion Naira and Mainstreet Bank was sold for over 100 Billion Naira under the former CEO of AMCON.

Before the sale of Keystone Bank to Isa Funtua, all bad debts in the books of the Bank were taken over by AMCON. So, it was a clean Bank with all the Assets and no Liabilities that was sold to the Buyers.

The Executive Management of AMCON was coerced into approving the transaction and those who were willing to submit a much higher bid were disqualified under a most opaque, suspicious process that lacks all transparency. The process was just manipulated in favour of the father-in-law of the AMCON CEO.

The Corrupt Payment for Keystone Bank The most disgusting part of the entire sale of Keystone Bank is how the 25 Billion Naira sales price was paid to AMCON.

The Isa Funtua Team paid 5 Billion Naira to AMCON, and then the balance of 20 Billion Naira was later paid through the most criminal and corrupt approach ever perpetrated by AMCON in favour of the Buyer. What happened was that AMCON moved 20 Billion Naira of their own funds as a fixed deposit at GTBank to Heritage Bank. Heritage Bank then paid the 20 Billion Naira on behalf of the Funtua Group to AMCON. In other words, AMCON used their own funds as a collateral for a loan to the Funtua Group for 20 Billion Naira!

When the Funtua Group took over Keystone Bank, they went borrowing immediately at the Interbank Market for 20 Billion Naira to refund AMCON’s funds. This has left a hole in Keystone Bank’s Balance Sheet and makes the Bank one of the most undercapitalized Banks in the Country as at today. The evidence of this highly compromised acquisition process can be obtained from the current and former staff of AMCON, from NDIC, CBN and from the current staff of Keystone Bank itself.

Another suspicious acquisition scandal surrounding the Funtua Group is about the untidy way 9-Mobile, formerly known as Etisalat, was bought. It is Mr. Adrian Wood of Teleology Holdings, a very sound telecoms professional, who collaborated with the Funtua Group for the acquisition of 9-Mobile.

The problem with their bid was the lack of a qualified Operator to support the bid which was one of the minimum conditions of NCC. Adrian Wood alone was not a substitute for an Operator.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) gave several conditions that must be met by the Ultimate Buyer of 9-Mobile to ensure the protection of shareholders value, prevent loss of jobs, protect the telecoms industry from slipping into a crisis and ensure transparency and professionalism in the post-acquisition entity.
The conditions listed by NCC that must be met by the Buyer are Strong Telecoms Operating Experience, Strong Financial Capabilities, Strong Technical Knowledge and Strong Administrative Skills.
The first thing that happened once Teleology was announced as the preferred winner was that the Funtua Group edged Adrian Woods out of Management and turned him to an Insignificant Shareholder.

The second development was that the Funtua Group raided Keystone Bank again and forced the Bank to Pay 50 million Dollars as down payment for the acquisition of 9-Mobile.

The third issue was that Teleology Nigeria replaced Teleology Holdings to remove any influence of Adrian Woods from 9-Mobile totally. The fourth step taken the Funtua Group was to borrow 260 Million Dollars from African Exim Bank.

The fifth thing was to coerce NCC to approve the sale at all cost without meeting 90% of the conditions set up ab-initio by the NCC.

The sixth strange action of the Funtua Group was to force the board of NCC to approve the sale through the influence and pressure from the Presidency. And the seventh Funtua infraction was to use the influence of CBN to force the Banks to the table and waive their own conditions of sale of 9-Mobile to the Teleology Nigeria group.

Efforts to reach the acting Head media and publicity of Economic and financial crimes Commission,EFCC, Mr. Tony Orilade to confirmed the latest developments proved abortive as his lines were not connecting.