Boco Edet
7 November 2008
An Indian national, Patrick Fernadez residing in Nigeria has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly defrauding WEMA Bank of N32 billion.
EFCC operatives arrested Fernadez on Wednesday in Abuja and transferred him to Lagos for arraignment today.
A source at the commission told Daily Trust that he conspired with some top officials of the bank to execute the fraud.
According to the source, the alleged fraudsters used a transaction they called "cheque kicking and swapping" to defraud the bank.
Other WEMA officials said to be part of the alleged scam are "at large" as EFCC is yet to ascertain their whereabouts.
Head of Media and Publicity, Femi Babafemi confirmed the arrest of Patrick Fernadez but declined further comments.
This is not the first arrest of bank officials involved in frauds by EFCC. Two weeks ago, a banker attached to the Western Union desk in one of the new generation banks in Nigeria, Tobi Adebayo was arrested for aiding some undergraduates to swindle a Malaysian lady of $21,600.
EFFC said Adebayo facilitated a Western Union money transfer from the Malaysian, Susan Choo for an undisclosed amount of money.
According to EFCC, the banker threw "banking ethics to the dustbin" and helped both students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) to clear $21,600 from Susan who sent the money to cover travelling expenses of her fiancé, one of the students involved in the scam, Oyewale Jide Akeem.
Meanwhile, the intervention of EFCC has halted the disbursement of N1 billion loans to political appointees in Ondo State.
EFCC investigated the matter following a petition to the anti-corruption commission hinting of moves by Governor Olusegun Agagu to approve loans despite the annulment of his election by the Ondo State Election Petition Tribunal.
Spokesperson of the EFCC, Femi Babafemi told Daily Trust that EFCC did not allow the loans to be disbursed after it quizzed some of the state's officials.
The action of the commission according to him was preventive to avoid misappropriation of funds.
EFCC in September quizzed and detained the Ondo State Accountant General, Folake Ogunnika, following a petition blowing the whistle on an attempt by the State Government to disburse an unsecured loan amounting to N1 billion to political appointees of the state government.
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