Emefiele: Politicians, business moguls named as investigators uncover over N7 trillion fraud

There are strong indications that top politicians and business moguls will be invited for questioning by the Jim Obazee-led team of special investigators mandated to probe activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and related entities under Godwin Emefiele.

Politics Nigeria reported that Kingsley Obiora and Aisha Ahmad, both deputy CBN governors, were recently interrogated by the Department of State Security (DSS) in connection with their roles in the affairs of the bank during Emefiele’s nine-year stint.

Fresh updates from multiple sources suggest that the team is currently analysing documents, memos and oral confessions that could lead to more arrests in the coming days.

There are indications that several foreign banks would be contacted in the course of the fast-expanding investigation.  

Already, there are rising apprehensions in the offices of the regulator across the country as some directors “who must have played active roles in approving some of the deals” are being interrogated.  

According to TheGuardian, the investigation is already closing in on some of the political and business associates of President Bola Tinubu.

Names of top politicians and business moguls are already being mentioned as possible culprits in the emerging saga, and there are fears the President may be forced to succumb to their demands.

Obazee is said to have gathered enough dossiers of sleazes that could send dozens to jail if prosecution is allowed to commence and sail through.

According to different sources, disbursements through different intervention programmes of the CBN and foreign exchange management are central to the investigation.

So far, the team is said to have uncovered over N7 trillion frauds linked to the embattled CBN boss. Many bank chiefs are also said to have been interrogated in connection with their roles in some of the transactions.

“The amount involved could be much more, but so far not less than N7 trillion has been uncovered. It is an ongoing exercise. Daily, more facts are being uncovered in the mind boggling crimes committed by individuals saddled with the responsibility of managing the national economy,” a source said.

Another source privy to the intense pressure the investigators have faced, said those who are directly involved in the matter are “ready to buy anybody” considering their desperation to get off the hook.

Cases of evidence destruction within and outside the CBN offices, starting from when Emefiele was arrested, have also been reported.

This is said to have slowed down some of the ongoing investigations and efforts to establish clearly how some of the frauds were perpetrated.

Anxiety over the extent of the investigation is spreading fast in the financial space as searchlight beans on “conspirators”. 

“In the coming weeks, heads will roll across the board. The level of rot seen in the system could not have been perpetrated by one man. If that is the case, those who work with him could not have been angels. I don’t know the scale of sanction that will follow but I can tell you that a lot of people will not go unpunished,” the source added.