Documents have shown how the $6,230,000 cash allegedly stolen from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on February 8, 2023, was shared.
President Bola Tinubu had set up a special investigative
team, led by Jim Obaze, to probe the tenure of Godwin Emefiele, former CBN
governor.
The team had claimed that $6.2 million was removed from the
apex bank’s vault under the guise of paying election observers.
Emefiele is standing trial on a 20-count amended criminal
charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC).
The amended charges border on alleged criminal breach of
trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy
to commit a felony.
According to the amended charge marked CR/577/2023,
Emefiele, on February 8, 2023, connived with Odoh Ocheme, who is now on the
run, to obtain $6.2 million from the CBN, claiming that the SGF requested it
“vide a letter dated 26th January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201″.
In the court documents, investigators characterised the
crime as an insider job primarily carried out by CBN staff members with the
cooperation of two outsiders known as Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar.
Investigators claimed that Odoh Eric Ocheme, Emefiele’s
personal assistant, received $3,730,000 of the funds, with three other people
splitting the remaining $2,500,000.
Ocheme was said to have justified his lion’s share by
claiming he had to pay other interests he had within the apex bank.
Some of the beneficiaries were said to have invested their
shares of the loot, estimated at N1.4 billion, in real estate, part of which
has now been recovered.
Some of the details of the investigation are contained in an
affidavit filed alongside an extradition charge pending against Adamu Abubakar,
Imam Abubakar and Odoh Eric Ocheme before the Abuja federal high court.
Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar and Ocheme are said to be at
large and are believed to have fled the country, hence, the extradition
proceedings.
In the affidavits, one of the investigators, a deputy
superintendent of police (DSP), said the team obtained copies of the withdrawal
slip as well as the accompanying documents, CBN memos, dated 07/02/2023
and 31/01/2023 respectively.
They also obtained “a letter dated 2/01/2023 purportedly
written by Muhammadu Buhari to Boss Mustapha and a letter dated 20/01/2023
purportedly written by Boss Mustapha to Mr Godwin Emafiele, which the Central
Bank of Nigeria, Abuja Branch relied on in making the payment”.
The DSP said investigations revealed that both letters were
forged and did not emanate from the office of the then president and SGF. At
the same time, Jibril Abubakar, whose identity card was used to cash the money
in question, was not a staff of the SGF office.
HOW COLLABORATORS INVESTED ‘STOLEN FUND’ IN REAL ESTATE
“We watched the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footages of
the 08/02/2023 being the day the money in question was cashed, and the payee
(Jibril Abubakar) could not be identified by the staff of either the CBN or
that of the office of the secretary to the government of the federation, where
he falsely represented himself to be working,” the document read
“A further study of
the Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) footage revealed that a staff of the Abuja
Branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, identified as Abdulmajeed Muhammad
received the impostor (Jibril Abubakar) at the gate of the bank when he arrived
on the fateful date: 08/02/2023.
“Abdulmajeed Muhammad was consequently arrested and in his
statement made on 15/12/2023, he admitted helping the impostor into the Abuja
Branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, but claimed that he did that innocently,
the impostor having been referred to him by Bashirudeen Maishanu; a Senior
Staff of the CBN.
“Abdulmajeed Muhammad
further revealed that prior to 08/02/2023 when the impostor came to cash the
money in question, he (Abdulmajeed Muhammad) had been invited by Bashirudeen
Maishanu to explain the procedure of public officials making cash withdrawal
from the CBN as those persons claimed to be officials from the office of the
SGF and that the then president had approved certain fund for official
assignment.
“We visited Kuje Correctional Centre, where we interviewed
Godwin Emefiele, who purportedly approved the memos authorising the payment, as
then CBN and he denied seeing, talk less of approving such memos.
“We also arrested
some concerned staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who denied any involvement
in the crime, before we finally arrested Bashirudeen Maishanu, who corroborated
the account of Abdulmajeed Muhammad and further confessed to have been involved
in the crime which, according to him was perpetrated by himself and the first
to third defendants/respondents – Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar and Odoh Eric
Ocheme.
“Bashiru Maishanu further confessed that himself, the first
and second defendants/respondents (Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar) shared the
sum of $2,500,000.00 from the stolen
money, while the third defendant/respondent (Odoh Eric Ocheme), being a fellow
staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria, kept the balance of $3,730,000.00
claiming that he had other interests to settle in the CBN.
“Bashirudeen Maishanu further confessed that both himself,
and the first and second defendants/respondents jointly invested the United
States dollars equivalent of the sum of N1, 440,000,000.00 into real estate
business of Afrolyk Global Ltd.
“The managing director of the said Afrolyk Ltd, Aminu Lawal
has been arrested and he confirmed the investment by Bashirudeen Maishanu,
Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar, and already refunded the sum of $200 000 00
to the special investigator’s team as part of the money he (Aminu Lawal)
received as part of the purported investment.
“Cash of about $400,000 00 has also been voluntarily
returned by Bashiru Maishanu from part of his remaining share of the money in
question.
“The money (the $6,230,000) was received in cash from the
Central Bank at Nigeria and also shared in the same cash by the
defendants/respondents and others, making it difficult to trace the monies
without arresting the defendants/respondents.
“It was later revealed that the third defendant – Odoh Eric Ocheme – was the Personal Assistant
to Godwin Emefiele as the CBN governor while the first and second defendants (Adamu Abubakar
and Imam Abubakar) are businessmen and associates of Bashirudeen Maishanu.”
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