Investigations by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have resulted in criminal charges being brought against executives from five banks.
The banks concerned have all been bailed out by the Nigerian government, as bad debt and low cash reserves threatened their capital positions
Some of the loans have been granted without board approval, some unsecured, and some made to fictitious individuals or organisations, the EFCC has stated.
A former head of FinBank, Okey Nwosu, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges in relation to the scandal.
The three former directors are Dayo Famoroti, Danjuma Ocholi and Agnes U. Ebubedike. When the charges were read out to the four Accused Persons, they pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
They were later granted bail by Justice Dan Abutu, after counsels argued their bail applications. Justice Abutu granted them bail in the sum of N50 million each with one surety in like sum.
According to the judge, the surety must be resident in Nigeria and must either be a director in a company or a civil servant at the director level. Furthermore, the judge said the surety must have landed property worth the said sum in either Ikoyi, Victoria Island Lagos or Asokoro in Abuja.
The judge also restrained the accused persons from travelling out of the country during the period of the case and directed them to deposit their international passports with the court registrar. The accused persons are also to report to the EFCC’s investigative officer on every first day of every month while the commission was given 48 hours to verify any document submitted by the sureties.
The accused persons are however to remain in the EFCC’s custody until they were able to perfect their bail conditions. Trial is expected to resume by the 1st and 2nd February, 2010.... Executives at Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank and Union Bank are also involved in the investigations.
Authorities have suspended trading in the banks’ shares as the scale of the alleged corruption, which is said to involve money laundering, threatens the entire Nigerian banking system.
nti-corruption police in Nigeria are threatening to seize the assets of some high-profile debtors if they do not repay their bank loans within the next seven days.
It follows the bailout of the banks and the sacking of the chief executives of five banks over the last few days.
Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission say it is giving the head of the stock exchange seven days to explain a list of debtors to five banks bailed out in a $2.6bn rescue.
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The central bank published a list of more than 200 firms, individuals and state bodies which it said were defaulting debtors of Afribank, Finbank, Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank and Union Bank.
The names listed as directors and shareholders in some of the defaulting companies reads like a roll-call of the great and the good of Nigeria's corporate aristocracy, including its richest and most powerful tycoons.
Two of the country's best known tycoons, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, the only Nigerians on the latest Forbes billionaires list, worth $2.5bn and $1.2bn respectively, were also on the list of the debtors.
The bailout and sacking of the five banks' chief executives, as well as threat by the anti-corruption police to arrest and seize the assets of debtors who do not organise repayment within a week, has sent shockwaves through corporate Nigeria.
Analysts say criminal charges could be brought if executives are found to have falsified accounts or breached share price manipulation rules by setting up subsidiaries as vehicles to trade their own stock and push the share price higher.
But some of the accused are expected to launch legal challenges to the central bank's actions.
Authorities have suspended trading in the banks’ shares as the scale of the alleged corruption, which is said to involve money laundering, threatens the entire Nigerian banking system.
nti-corruption police in Nigeria are threatening to seize the assets of some high-profile debtors if they do not repay their bank loans within the next seven days.
It follows the bailout of the banks and the sacking of the chief executives of five banks over the last few days.
Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission say it is giving the head of the stock exchange seven days to explain a list of debtors to five banks bailed out in a $2.6bn rescue.
Advertisement
The central bank published a list of more than 200 firms, individuals and state bodies which it said were defaulting debtors of Afribank, Finbank, Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank and Union Bank.
The names listed as directors and shareholders in some of the defaulting companies reads like a roll-call of the great and the good of Nigeria's corporate aristocracy, including its richest and most powerful tycoons.
Two of the country's best known tycoons, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, the only Nigerians on the latest Forbes billionaires list, worth $2.5bn and $1.2bn respectively, were also on the list of the debtors.
The bailout and sacking of the five banks' chief executives, as well as threat by the anti-corruption police to arrest and seize the assets of debtors who do not organise repayment within a week, has sent shockwaves through corporate Nigeria.
Analysts say criminal charges could be brought if executives are found to have falsified accounts or breached share price manipulation rules by setting up subsidiaries as vehicles to trade their own stock and push the share price higher.
But some of the accused are expected to launch legal challenges to the central bank's actions.
