Six officials of the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) and 16 bankers who
allegedly engaged in sharp practices
over mutilated currency notes are in big
trouble and will have their days in court.
The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) has concluded plans
to arraign six top executives of the CBN
and 16 other bankers working with
commercial banks, following their
alleged implication in a mega scam
involving the theft and recirculation of
defaced and mutilat-ed currencies.
The indicted CBN officials are 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).
The lid on the scam, widely suspected to
have gone on unchecked for years, was
blown on November 3, 2014 via a
petition to the EFCC alleging that over
N6.58billion was cornered and discreetly
recycled by top executives of the CBN at
the Ibadan branch.
This sparked off the investigation by the
EFCC.
The deposit banks in this instance. are
Zenith Bank, FCMB, Wema Bank, Access
Bank, First Bank, Skye Bank, Ecobank
and Sterling Bank.
While carrying out the assignment, the
investigation team was alleged to have
found one of the currency boxes filled
only with old newspapers rather than 20
bundles of N1000 notes.
The suspects, who were drawn from
various business units of the apex bank,
will be arraigned on a five-count charge
by the EFCC before a Federal High Court
in Ibadan, Oyo State, between tomorrow
and Thursday.
The EFCC spokesperson, Mr Wilson
Uwujaren, who confirmed the devel-
opment, further disclosed that the
remaining 16 suspects are drawn from
various commercial banks, who were
found to have conspired with the CBN
executives to swing the heist.
"The suspects, who were members of the
Briquetting Panel, plotted their way to
infamy on September 8, 2014, while
carrying out a Briquetting exercise at the
CBN Branch, Ibadan. 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," he
said.
"Instead of carrying out the statutory
instruction to destroy the currency, they
(the suspects) substituted it with
newspapers neatly cut to Naira sizes
and proceeded to recycle the defaced
and mutilated currency."
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