The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on
Tuesday arrested the former Chief Executive Officer, Intercontinental
Bank Plc, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, over fresh N47.1bn money laundering
charges.
The embattled former bank chief was arrested in Lagos by operatives of the commission and will be arraigned at a Lagos High Court on Wednesday (today) on a 29-count charge.
Also arrested are the former Managing Director, Afribank, Mr. Sebastine Adigwe, and his Finbank counterpart, Mr. Okey Nwosu. Eight former directors of the three banks were arrested too.
Names of the affected former directors were not known as at the time of filing this report.
Currently, Akingbola is standing trial for official misconduct while in office as the CEO of Intercontinental Bank for which the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, removed him in July 2009.
He was alleged to have with other sacked bank chief executives, granted unsecured loans of about N747bn, a debt profile which was believed to have landed the affected banks in financial trouble.
Akingbola had agreed to refund £9m to Intercontinental Bank, a deal that was sealed by an English court.
The money is to be refunded from his account in Guernsey, earlier frozen by that country’s Financial Intelligence Service at the behest of the EFCC.
However, Akingbola, through his lawyer, has denied owing the bank or seeking to make any refund.
But it was gathered that the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), had on March 3, 2011 granted his approval to the repayment plan.
Also, the Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank, Mr. Mammoud Alabi, has given his consent.
But the Chairman of the EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri, and Sanusi have opposed the idea, as they reasoned that the payment would destroy the case in court against Akingbola.
By Chiawo Nwankwo, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
The embattled former bank chief was arrested in Lagos by operatives of the commission and will be arraigned at a Lagos High Court on Wednesday (today) on a 29-count charge.
Also arrested are the former Managing Director, Afribank, Mr. Sebastine Adigwe, and his Finbank counterpart, Mr. Okey Nwosu. Eight former directors of the three banks were arrested too.
Names of the affected former directors were not known as at the time of filing this report.
Currently, Akingbola is standing trial for official misconduct while in office as the CEO of Intercontinental Bank for which the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, removed him in July 2009.
He was alleged to have with other sacked bank chief executives, granted unsecured loans of about N747bn, a debt profile which was believed to have landed the affected banks in financial trouble.
Akingbola had agreed to refund £9m to Intercontinental Bank, a deal that was sealed by an English court.
The money is to be refunded from his account in Guernsey, earlier frozen by that country’s Financial Intelligence Service at the behest of the EFCC.
However, Akingbola, through his lawyer, has denied owing the bank or seeking to make any refund.
But it was gathered that the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), had on March 3, 2011 granted his approval to the repayment plan.
Also, the Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank, Mr. Mammoud Alabi, has given his consent.
But the Chairman of the EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri, and Sanusi have opposed the idea, as they reasoned that the payment would destroy the case in court against Akingbola.
By Chiawo Nwankwo, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
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