The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC) has smashed a nine-man
syndicate behind N1 billion salary fraud involving 599 ghost workers.
The
anti-graft agency has also arrested a couple, Dayo Usman Aliyu and Ronke Usman,
who were said to be members of the syndicate.
The
couple, who are staff of the Accountant-General of the Federation, were said to
have exploited the gaps in the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System
(IPPIS).
Another
suspected member of the syndicate, Bede Anyanwu, an Accountant with the Federal
Ministry of Environment, was quizzed and released on administrative bail.
According
to findings made by our correspondent, the EFCC had received a formal complaint
from the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on the huge number of
ghost workers.
The
Ministry was said to have recommended 399 ghost workers to EFCC for probe but
in the course of investigation, the commission uncovered 200 others.
The
nation was believed to have lost more than N1 billion to the syndicate at the
time the Minister contacted the anti-graft agency.
It
was learnt that the EFCC chairman constituted a team to probe the pay fraud,
leading to the arrest of nine civil servants from some Ministries, Departments
and Agencies(MDAs).
It
was gathered that the alleged involvement of the couple in the IPPIS shocked
EFCC investigators.
A
top EFCC source said: “The Ministry of Finance reported 399 ghost workers for
investigation. The commission’s investigation has uncovered additional 200.
“A
total of nine suspects have already been quizzed at the Abuja headquarters. But
the agency is spreading its dragnets wide as cases have been forwarded to some
zonal offices of the EFCC for further investigation.
“The
Port Harcourt, Lagos and Ibadan offices of the commission are handling the
cases of some suspects that were picked up in Umuahia and Abeokuta.”
Investigation
revealed that the arrest of the couple in OAGF provided the lead for the
busting of the syndicate.
The
source said: ”The syndicate led by one Dayo Usman Aliyu, a staff of the
Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), alongside his wife
(Ronke) also a staff of OAGF, exploited gaps in the IPPIS to enroll ghost
workers into the Federal Government payroll, using agents who supplied
accounts.
“At
the time Dayo was arrested by the EFCC, he was raking in a monthly heist of
N6.1million through remittance by his agents.
“He
had an arrangement in which his agents, some of them civil servants, would
collect the money (from ghost staff) and remit 40 per cent of the proceeds to
him.
“At
the time of his arrest, there were eight such agents working for him.”
The
source gave further details on how the N1 billion fraud was perpetrated.
It
added: “Apart from the agents who are civil servants, some non-civil servants
were also put on the payroll and collecting salaries from the Federal
Government with fake appointment letters.
“One
of such was Hassan Momoh who was collecting four salaries with four different
names. He does not work in any ministry but investigation revealed that he
earned over N4 million in two years from the proceeds of the scam.”
It
was also learnt that an Accountant with the Federal Ministry of Environment,
Bede Anyanwu, had been quizzed by EFCC as a suspected member of Dayo’s
syndicate.
Anyanwu
was released on administrative bail by the EFCC pending the conclusion of the
ongoing probe.
The
top source said: “From our findings, Anyanwu approached Dayo and enrolled about
five people into the IPPIS platform. We are still in the process of identifying
the five people.
“For
each of the five, Anyanwu remitted 40 per cent of the salary paid to Dayo
through his wife, Ronke.
“
Ronke was arrested and she made a statement that she received the remittance
every month and that she uses the money (about N150,000 -N200,000) to take care
of the family.”
Responding
to a question, the source said: “The accounts of all the identified suspects
have been blocked.”
It
will be recalled that the Minister of Finance recently summoned the Managing
Director of a first generation bank over the alleged complicity of the bank in
the payment of salaries to 23,000 ghost workers on the payroll of the Federal
Government.
Also,
the Minister also asked the Director General of Pension Commission, Ms Chinelo
Anohu-Amazu to appear before a probe panel in her ministry on how Pension Funds
Administrators (PFAs) allegedly generated fake PFA numbers for the “ghost
workers”.
After
the initial probe by the ministry, the Minister handed over the case to the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC).
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