FG begins probe of its ex-ministers over alleged fraud
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/07/fg-begins-probe-of-its-ex-ministers.html
The Federal Government has begun interrogation of those implicated in
the alleged fraud that left over 65,000 Nigerian shareholders losing
two billion dollars worth of shares.
Those invited for interrogation were former minister of Budget and
National Planning, Sen. Udo Udoma and his counterpart in the Ministry of
Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah.
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Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, former Minister of Budget and National Planning as FG probes ex-ministers over $2bn Fraud |
Mr Chukwuemeka Obasi , the legal representative of the whistle-blower disclosed this to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.
Obasi said that the General Managing Director of Union Bank Nig Plc, Mr Emeka Emuwa was also questioned.
According to him, the various representatives of all private and
public institutions linked with the fraud were also invited and quizzed.
Obasi said the establishments mentioned in the petition included the
Chapel Hill, National Security Exchange (NSE), Security Exchange
Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The interrogation hinged on a petition reporting the alleged fraud
submitted to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami,
SAN, dated April 3, 2019.
The petition is titled “Official corruption, misuse of FGN USD two
billion, fraud and unjust enrichment of persons who dispossessed more
than 65,000 Nigerians and conferred ownership of the Bank on few
Nigerians and their foreign accomplices’’.
The petition did finger former Central Bank Governor, the Emir of
Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II, under whose watch the alleged
fraud was perpetuated.
Also accused of alleged complexities in the transactions were the two former ministers.
Enelamah was particularly fingered as the mastermind of the
transaction by allegedly leading Africa Capital Alliance to form the
Mauritius shell company to house Nigerians pretending to be foreign
investors.
The transactions allegedly dispossessed Nigerian shareholders and
investors in order to transfer ownership of the bank to a few persons
including insiders, chieftains of competitor banks and others who would
not pass CBN’s “fit and proper’’ test for bank ownership.
The petition claimed that Enelamah allegedly organised the
registration of the offshore shell company in Mauritius called Union
Global Partners Limited for the purpose of disguising the true majority
ownership of Union Bank shares concealed in the offshore company.
The petition also alleged that the transactions commenced under
Udoma’s supervision as Chairman of Security and Exchange Commission and
sealed up when he became the Chairman of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.
“The circumstances can best be described as official corruption and insider trading’’, the petition alleged.
The petition further alleged that Udoma and other officials illicitly
granted a renewable five year waiver to Union Bank of Nigeria to remain
listed on the exchange in spite of being owned by a few private equity
firms till today.
According to the petition, the alleged unlawful action is to ensure
the more than 65,000 Nigeria former shareholders whose shares were
diluted from 85 per cent to less than 15 per cent of public float to
still be listed on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
“It is to be recalled that 49% shares of Union Bank of Nigeria plc is
now majority owned and controlled by London listed Atlas Mara, the
investment company led by Robert Diamond Jr.
“Mr Diamond is a former Chief Executive Officer of Barclays Bank who was sacked for his involvement in manipulating Libor.
“Not only is Mr Diamond not a fit and proper person to own a bank
according to the rules of Nigeria, he had also been blacklisted by the
Bank of England as a result of the Libor manipulation.
“One wonders how the former CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
authorised the Union Bank change of ownership transaction and bridged it
with USD two billion national patrimony, in spite of glaring evidence
of fraud and the nature of the ultimate foreign owner who was already
known and waiting in the wings.
“There are evidence that Atlas Mara has visions of owning 100% of
Union Bank of Nigeria plc which they can only achieve by buying shares
warehoused by the few privileged Nigerians that acquired the bank in
apparently unwholesome circumstances.
“Those few privileged Nigerians are now cashing in on their loot in
transactions with Atlas Mara, at the expense of dispossessed
Nigerians,’’ the petition said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the alleged fraud has
international dimensions reaching United Kingdom, Canada, USA,
Netherlands and Mauritius.
NAN further reports that official record has it that Atlas Mara
controls 49 per cent control share of the bank which is in turn
controlled by Fairfax Africa based in Canada and United States.
According to the petition, Mauritius equally has a significant
control right, because the offshore shell company called Union Global
Partners Limited (UGPL) is another significant owner that has sold and
continues to offload its shares to Atlas Mara.
Nigerians who were former shareholders of Union Bank of Nigeria eagerly await the outcome of this investigation.
NAN reports that UGPL acquired 65 per cent of the bank in the odious transaction that dispossessed Nigerians.
NAN further reports that the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria
(AMCON) was also compelled to divest its 20 per cent shares to Atlas
Mara which the UGPL consortium was unable to pay for.
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