Multi-million-dollar fraud uncovered in CBN

By Philippine Duru

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A witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday told an FCT High Court in Abuja how $6.23 million was allegedly withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for a purported election monitoring exercise during the 2023 general election under the leadership of former apex bank governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The witness, Chinedu Eneanya, an Assistant Commander with the EFCC, said investigations revealed that the funds were removed from the CBN vault under the guise of paying foreign election observers.

“The investigation revealed that $6.23 million was removed from the coffers of the CBN for purported funding of the foreign observers of the 2023 elections,” Eneanya told the court.

Eneanya, the 13th prosecution witness, said documents authorising the release of the money were recovered from the apex bank, while individuals linked to the transaction were interrogated.

The EFCC is prosecuting Emefiele on a 20-count amended charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, forgery, obtaining by false pretence, procurement fraud and conspiracy.

At the centre of the case is the alleged payment of $6.23 million from the CBN vault in 2023 for what the commission described as a phoney election observer exercise. Emefiele has denied all the charges.

Led in evidence by Rotimi Oyedepo, Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Eneanya said the commission discovered that signatures attributed to the late President Muhammadu Buhari and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, were forged to facilitate the withdrawal.

He said the finding followed a forensic examination of the documents used to process the payment.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel Matthew Burkaa, however, Eneanya said no forensic test was conducted on Emefiele’s signature.

He also confirmed that none of the five CBN officials who endorsed the internal memo authorising the transaction are standing trial, noting that they were suspended by the bank.

When asked whether investigations showed that Emefiele personally received the funds, the witness said a lawyer, Ifeanyi Omeke, claimed to have received the money on behalf of the former CBN governor.

He added that Emefiele was not questioned on the allegation.

The court thereafter discharged the witness.

Proceedings took another turn when the prosecution failed to bring additional witnesses, despite the defence indicating readiness to continue.

Oyedepo told the court that it was uncertain whether the remaining witnesses would be available, explaining that subpoenas had not yet been issued and that the witnesses were outside the court’s jurisdiction. He said the witnesses, Jim Obessa and Eloho Okpozikbo, were in Benin and Lagos.

The defence counsel urged the court to foreclose the prosecution’s case if the witnesses failed to appear.

“If the witnesses do not come tomorrow, we will apply that they should be foreclosed… This is an antic for the prosecution to put maximum hardship on the defendant,” he said.

But Oyedepo opposed the request, saying it was an attempt to stop the prosecution from presenting its case.

Trial judge Hamza Muazu asked both sides to reserve their arguments for final written addresses and directed the prosecution to liaise with the court registrar to issue subpoenas.

The case was adjourned to Tuesday for continuation of trial.

Eneanya’s testimony is consistent with earlier evidence presented by other prosecution witnesses. In January, Bashirudeen Maishanu, a CBN official, told the court that the $6.23 million was withdrawn in cash in a single day in February 2023 and tagged as payment to foreign election observers.

On February 13, 2024, the former SGF testified that his signature and that of Buhari were forged to approve the release of the funds.

A day earlier, Onyeka Ogbu, a former CBN controller in Abuja, said he received documents bearing approvals from Buhari, Mustapha and Emefiele for the payment.

In March 2024, Bamaiyi Meriga, a forensic expert, also testified that the documents used for the withdrawal were forged.