Having submitted its report on the investigation on oil
marketers who fraudulently collected over N422 billion in subsidy payments last
week, the chairman of the Presidential committee on the re-investigation of the
subsidy fraud, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, MD/ CEO of Access Bank PLC,
will now have the task to unwrap how $200,000 out of $1m allegedly being
illegally ferried from Abuja to Lagos got missing.
National Daily investigations uncovered that the bank
may have been involved in illegal funds transfer amounting to millions of
foreign exchange using individual staff who are allegedly instructed not to
declare the monies at the airport.
Among the staffs who have been involved in this illegal
operation is Mr. Nnaemeka Onyegbule, a team lead with Bullion Services with the
Area 3 branch of Access Bank PLC. As at press time, the suspect was still under
detention since the time he was arrested on the 17th of
July, 2012 at the banks headquarters in Victoria Island without the matter been
charged to court or the management of the bank enthusiastic of doing so.
The incident is suspected to have caused the death of a
relation of the suspect who, after visiting his younger brother who is the
suspect, died of cardiac arrest some few minutes after leaving him at the
station.
According to National Daily investigations, the suspect
who had made statements to investigators at the Special Criminal Investigation
Department at Panti, Lagos State has denied taking the missing money and is
still surprised why he is the only suspect in the incident since some of the
queer transactions he was tasked to carry out are done illegally.
National Daily gathered that the incident started on
Tuesday, 17th of July, 2012, when the suspect, Mr. Nnaemeka Onyegbule boarded
an Arik Flight W3802 from the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport and bound for
Lagos. Before leaving for the airport, the suspect was said pulled the
money out from the vault and confirmed the money to be $1m before he packed it
inside his bag and left the bag inside his office to make arrangement for a
bullion van and driver. When he arranged that, one of his boys named Alex moved
the bag to the van with the suspect joining the escort vehicle and they left
for the airport with another of the suspect’s colleague named Fredrick. On the
way, the suspect was said to have contacted his supervisor, one Ajibola
Fashiola who is the Unit Head, Bullion Services in Access Bank PLC, Apapa,
Lagos for approval limit of the money the suspect was about to transport.
National Daily gathered that the suspect’s supervisor assured that she would
get the needed approval from one Kalu Agwu and gave ordered him to proceed. The
suspect got to the airport and got his boarding pass and moved the bag to the
departure lounge of Arik Air. He boarded the flight without declaring to
the relevant airport authority or security that he had cash; a practice the
suspect alleged is the practice with such transaction as he had illegally
transported more than the amount he did carry on that particular day.
National Daily gathered that the suspect is alleged to
have at various occasions transported $2m, £6.5m, $5m and so on mostly from Abuja
to Lagos under the supervision of the said supervisor, Fashiola.
Instead of declaring the cash at the airport and pay a
stipulated fee, the suspect allegedly did not do so claiming that that is the
way the office (Access Bank PLC) does it since taking over Intercontinental
Bank PLC this year.
The suspect, who happened to have joined
Intercontinental Bank PLC in 2006 as a Customers Service Office and went to
become a salary paying teller in the Customers Service in the Area 3 branch of
the bank. He has also worked as SLA in Western Union and had the job
description of making payments and transfers. In 2009, he was moved on
recommendations to Loan Recovery in 2009 and sent to the Ladoga Akintola Branch
as House Officer in charge of ATM machines where he handled weekly cash count
running into billions of Naira. He remained in that position till 2011 and
relieved his Head of Department who was sent to a branch in a West African
country. After being absorbed into Access Bank PLC he was put in charge of
Bullion Services in Abuja until November 2011 when he took over as Team leader.
Inside the Arik Flight.
After boarding the aircraft, the suspect sat on seat
4F, near the window and put the bag containing the money on the overhead
locker. National Daily gathered that the suspect stated that he noticed a
passenger in seat 6F going through the locker near the bag but did not bother
to check as his bag had a lock. Before the departure of the flight, the
Arik Air Cabin crew supervisor, one Taiwo, was said to have adjusted the bag
and put the suspect on inquiries that the bag was at the edge. The suspect was
said to have checked the bag and remained seated.
It was when the flight landed at Lagos that the suspect
opened the bag to check and discovered that $200,000 out of the $1m (USD) was
missing. He called the attention of the Cabin crew supervisor who asked if he
declared the money otherwise Arik would not bear responsibility.
This will not be the first time an accusation of
alleged theft is being mentioned inside an Arik flights. In April this
year, a passenger on board Arik Air flight W3 162 from the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport, Abuja to Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, suspected
to have stolen N200, 000 belonging to another passenger on the business class
after opening the overhead cabin, pretending to be for missing items
in his luggage, but picked the money that another passenger kept in a bag. It
was the vigilant eyes of another passenger that got the suspect to be
apprehended.
Also in June, a Nigerian writer and blogger, Mr.
Japheth Omojuwa, accused Arik Air cabin crew of stealing his Ipad which he
forgot under his seat inside an Arik flight with one of the cabin crew members
allegedly confirming the Ipad was found but “put” back into the complainants
bag. When contacted on the issue, Arik Air Media Officer, Mr. Ola Banji
said he was not aware of the incident.
Onyegbule , claiming he did not want to draw
attention to himself insie the aircraft, put a call to his branch in Abuja to
confirm all the money was taken or if there was an excess of $200,000. He
called one Uduma Yaba who informed him that no such money was left behind. The
suspect then waited for the bullion from Lagos to pick him and went to deposit
$800,000 at the Alausa Branch of Access Bank PLC in Lagos. He then called his
supervisor who is the Unit Head of Bullion Services to inform her of the
situation; she directed him to report at Apapa branch from where he was asked
to come down to the Head office at Danmole Street, Victoria Island.
National Daily gathered that when the suspect arrived
there, he was taken to Fraud and Investigations Department where one Mr.
Omobola was alleged to have assaulted the suspect and threatened to strip him
if he does not confess where the money was. The suspect was later taken to Bar
Beach Police Station and detained there. The suspect was detained at the
police station for three nights before being transferred to Panti police
Station also in Lagos and that got his family worried.
Family enquiries.
The suspect’s wife. Mrs. Petra Onyegbule got a call
from her husband informing her of the situation and she rushed down from their
Abuja residence and flew down to Lagos, leaving her two year old daughter with
a neighbour in Abuja to make enquiries on the situation and started asking why
her husband had not been charged to court as he had been under detention for
longer than 48 hours. National Daily gathered that when the family got
wind of that he was been transferred to Panti on Friday, they went to the
bank’s head quarters to make enquires and ask questions. Some of their queries
where, why was the suspect not charged to court? Why was Access Bank PLC not
showing face at the police station but giving instructions over the phone and
the wife demanded why she was not contacted since her husband was
arrested? Sources informed National Daily that a big row occurred at the
bank’s head office when a certain Omobola told the suspect’s wife that she
should be begging the bank than coming to ask questions.
Evidences gotten by National Daily investigation of the
shouting match that happened inside the banking hall revealed that the Access
Bank PLC staff that finally had to calm the situation apologized to the wife
that nobody called her to inform her and explained to her what the bank
management does in the case of such incidents.
When the suspect’s wife raised concerns that the bank
was endangering the life of the husband by calling him at ridiculous time of
the night by a certain Ajibola Fashiola demanding for huge amounts of money,
the bank official responded by saying, “ your husband signed up for this job
and knows what he is doing. He has the option of resigning.”
Suspect’s brother dies.
On Sunday, 22nd July, 2012, the
elder brother of the suspect, Mr. Okwudili Onyegbule, who resides at Ibidun
Street, Surulere, Lagos, went to visit the suspect at the police station. After
seing the condition the suspect was, the brother had cardiac arrest on the
short drive from Yaba to Surulere. He was said to be hypertensive and may have
suffered a heart attack. He was deposited at the Yaba Military Hospital and was
buried over the weekend in their hometown of Mbaise in Imo State.
Home searched days after.
The suspect was later flown to Abuja and had his house
searched and had his passport and the passports of his wife and two year old
daughter confiscated. National Daily also gathered that he has since been
returned to Lagos and is still been detained in Panti while his accounts with
the bank had been frozen.
When National Daily contacted the Deputy External
communication Manager of Access Bank PLC, Mr. Segun Fafora, he declined
answering some questions National Daily sent saying that the matter is under
investigation and at such the bank will not respond. National Daily asked the
bank;
1. Does Access Bank PLC transfer huge sums of foreign
exchange through individuals?
2. Does this practice not go against the Cashless
society policy of the CBN?
3. Why did the Bank wait for some days before the
premises of the suspect were searched?
4. Is the suspect in custody the only suspect in the
case?
5. Has the CCTV in the originating branch been accesses
and evaluated to ascertain where theft occurred?
6. Does Access Bank PLC evade declaring such huge sums
from the relevant authorities?
7. Why is Access Bank PLC staff asked not to declare
such monies to authorities?
8. Why is AB not interested in charging the matter to
court?
9. Did the bank obtain a warrant to freeze the
suspect's account?
Even as some of those indicted by the Aig-Imoukhuede committee
have been charged to court few days after the report was submitted, the
question remain why the suspect is yet to be charged to court over the alleged
offence; a question only those in charge of the case can answer.