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FCMB: EXPOSING NIGERIA’S MOST FRAUDULENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTION……….. How MILLIONS WAS FRAUDULENTLY MOVED FROM CUSTOMERS ACCOUNT! + INSIDER CONNECTION

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6 years ago

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The management of First City Monument Bank, FCMB Plc., appears to have ignored recent directive from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to banks to report suspicious activities of their customers to the commission.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has also recently warned Nigerian banks that they will be held responsible if they failed to notify the apex bank activities of fraudsters and hackers.
Financial analysts, however, insist that the new generation bank led by Mr. Adam Nuru have wittingly disregarded the directive neither has the bank done enough to build necessary firewalls capable enough to prevent criminal elements from using the bank to commit fraud.


This has become worrisome in the face of hackers that have now infiltrated the bank’s electronic system for the purpose of robbing unsuspecting Nigerian of their hard earned money. SOCIETY REPORTERS however discovered through investigations that the fraud is committed with insiders’ assistance in the bank.
The hackers and some employees of the bank, we learnt they have formed a well-organized syndicate that now threatens depositor’s fund in the bank and the financial system in the country.
The modus operandi of the ‘cartel’, according to some victims who have lost money to the well-organized syndicate, is very strong so much so that an unsuspecting individual would have fallen for the scam before knowing it.
On January 3, 2018 an FCMB customer (names withheld for security reasons) with account number 0289084011 received an alert on his mobile telephone line, that his account has been debited of N5,000,000.00 ( five million naira only). Shocked that the amount was removed from his account without his authorization, he quickly called one of his staff to find out what could have happened.
The employee, an accountant working in his office told him he received an email from him that day authorizing him to transfer the said amount to GTB account owned by one Aminu Steven H.
The GTB account number is 0160947512. The principal told the staff that he never sent the e-mail, more so when he had no transaction with the GTB customer, as such he had no reason to pay him such money.
Suspecting that he has been scammed, he quickly notified FCMB which in turn notified GTB. While this was still going on the recipient of the money at GTB had quickly moved the money, which he split into two different accounts in the same bank.
The transaction was done in a flash of lightning. The sum of N2,800,000.00 was transferred to the account of one Sanni Adeyemi Azeez, while N2,200,000.00 was moved to the account of Olamilekan Temitope Moses.
“There’s no way this could have happened without insider connection,” said Frank Enebeli, a financial analysts, adding that “FCMB has become notorious for such financial fraud.”
Before this particular case, some customers of FCMB have complained about the failure of FCMB management do something about some of its staff working hand-in-hand with hackers to commit fraud.
Some customers said they have had to close their accounts with FCMB because they felt that their money could be tampered with. Some of them said they felt their money was no longer safe with the bank, not because they have any bitter experience, but simply because their friends who at one time or the other had been defrauded warned them to do so.
FCMB, some analysts say has risked its reputation as one of the new generation banks in the country by allowing hackers and thieves to have a free reign.
An insider told SOCIETY REPORTERS that it’s difficult to weed out insiders in the bank perpetuating this fraud because they have backers among senior management of the bank. The source also said the cartel has become so much entrenched because of huge cash involved.
According to him, the mode of operation of the ‘thieving staff’ is two-way pronged. The first “ring’, he said focus on working with hackers to move money from other banks to FCMB. The basic work of these staff is to move such money to special or dedicated accounts opened for this purpose. “These accounts are opened using proxies who are promised cuts or percentage of whatever money is involved.
The owners of the accounts get up to 10 percent or more, depending on agreement. Once the money lands in the account the owner is quickly informed, so that he can withdraw it with immediate effect before the victim alerts the bank.” the source said.
“The transactions takes place in a flash, because once it’s discovered the bank can place a Lien of No Debit Transaction on the accounts involved making any withdrawer impossible,” he also stated.
The biggest ‘cartel’ involves staff who stole FCMB customers’ money. According to the same source, this group has festered for years in the bank and has become very entrenched in the evil practice.
“What they do is to monitor fat accounts for at least eight months. Once they discovered that the accounts witnessed no activity within this period, they will start moving the money bit by bit,” he said.
He explained that some customers have opened accounts with the bank without the knowledge of their family members or close relations. When such customers die, he said, nobody will be able recover the money in the accounts because nobody is aware of their existence.
“Though this particular situation is not common with GTB, but the one that happens in FCMB is worst. The cartel makes millions monthly from these fraudulent practices. Now imagine the billions that may have been stealing from customers in the last few years,” he said.
Some customers of FCMB who spoke with us, disclosed that on a number of occasions they had receive debit alert on their mobile phones without any transaction.
Whenever the bank is queried, the response is usually very unimpressive. In the case cited above, FCMB was very reluctant to return the N5 million stolen until the owner dragged the bank to court.
The efforts by SOCIETY REPORTERS to get the bank respond to the issue were not successful. Telephone calls made to its spokesperson one Mr. Louis Ibe were not responded to.
Whatch out for Part 2…… (Our Interview with some aggrieved customers of the bank)

SUNDAY ADEBAYO

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Commissioner for Justice, Zacchaeus Adangor Resigns After Being Redeployed By Governor Fubara.

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4 hours ago

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April 25, 2024

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Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Rivers State, Zacchaeus Adangor has rejected his redeployment as Commissioner for Special Duties.

Zacchaeus also tendered his resignation from the state executive council.

Zacchaeus had, on 14 December, resigned his position as the Attorney-General of the state following the face-off between Governor Sim Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike.

Zacchaeus and other commissioners who resigned due to the political crisis in the state, however, returned to the government after being reconfirmed by the state House of Assembly.

Fubara, earlier in the week, reshuffled his cabinet and redeployed Zacchaeus as the commissioner for Special Duties (Governor’s Office).

In a letter sighted by DAILY POST and addressed to the Secretary to the Rivers State government, Zacchaeus rejected his new office.

Zacchaeus, a strong ally of Wike, in his resignation letter, accused Governor Fubara of interfering with the performance of his duties as Attorney General of the state.

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Just in: Senator Ayogu Eze Dies At 65

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4 hours ago

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April 25, 2024

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Famous former lawmaker, Senator Ayogu Eze, is dead. He died at the age of 65.

Ayogu represented Enugu North in the Senate during which time he played key role of the image maker of the Senate.

He died in an Abuja hospital after a protracted illness.

Sources squealed that Ayogu had been down, a situation that made him unable to attend his child’s wedding ceremony held earlier in the year in Lagos State.

He was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, before he defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, where he ran for Enugu State governorship election.

In the Senate, he was appointed chairman of the senate committee on Information and Media, making him the official spokesperson of the senate in 2007.

After his reelection to the senate in 2011, he was appointed chairman of the committee on works.

Eze also served as a member of committees on Police Affairs, National Planning, Marine Transport and Federal Character & Inter-Government Affairs.

In May last year, the Senate confirmed the appointment of Eze and five others as Federal Commissioners for Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC.

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EFCC may prosecute 300 forex racketeers

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13 hours ago

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April 25, 2024

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•EFCC gets order to freeze 300 accounts, says one account transacted $15bn illegally

•Naira would have crashed massively if 300 accounts were not frozen – Chairman

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission may prosecute 300 forex racketeers trading on a peer-to-peer platform outside the financial regulations.

The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who gave this indication during an interactive programme with editors and bureau chiefs in Abuja on Tuesday, revealed that the accounts were frozen following a court order on Monday.

He disclosed that one of the accounts traded over $15bn in the past year.

Recently, the Federal Government through the Nigerian Communications Commission blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms to avert what it considered continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.

It also detained two senior executives of Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange amidst efforts by the government to rein in speculation on the naira by cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges.

The government also sent EFCC operatives to arrest Bureau De Change operators at the popular Wuse Zone 4 in Abuja.

While the websites of Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken have been inaccessible in the country, reports said crypto traders now use alternatives like Bybit, Bitget, Kucoin, and Coincola and messaging platforms like Telegram which comes with an in-app wallet to make transactions.

But highlighting the measures being taken to protect the naira and stimulate the economy, Olukoyede explained that the forex accounts were frozen to ensure the safety of the foreign exchange market and protect the economy.

He stated that the efforts had helped the value of the naira and the forex market.

He pointed out that the commission needed the support of Nigerians to succeed as he emphasised that if the agency failed, Nigeria had failed.

‘Worse than Binance’

Olukoyede stated, “We observe due process in whatever we do. Do you know that the Binance case we are currently handling now has helped us to bring down the madness in the forex market?

’Suddenly, we discovered that there are people in the system who are even doing worse than Binance. They called them P2P and all of that. We noticed in the last two days ago that dollars have started appreciating. There was stability for 24 hours, then the naira was devalued again by N20 and N25. I don’t know whether you noticed that.

“It was due to the activities of some of these guys on P2P platforms like coolcoin. Some of you must have seen them on social media. To shock you; just yesterday (Monday), I asked them to freeze over 300 accounts. We found that one of those guys (account owners), had traded over $15bn last year.’’

Continuing, the lawyer said 300 illicit accounts would have led to a crash of the naira in the next week if the EFCC hadn’t moved against them.

He added, ‘’Our job is serious. We work 18 hours per day. We are not saying that Nigerians should praise us because that was what we signed for but where we deserve, we should be given. We are humans like Nigerians.

“Over 300 accounts in illicit forex trading that would have led to another crash in the next one week if we didn’t move yesterday. Some people just want to see this country go from bad to worse. We must find a way to work together. We got an order to freeze those accounts; Imagine what would have happened if we didn’t seize those accounts.’’

The EFCC boss said his agency was focusing on illegal mining which he described as an economic crime.

‘Illegal miners’

He stated that EFCC operatives had recently intercepted 40 trucks of illegally mined lithium, promising to prosecute the perpetrators.

He also shed light on the current moves to arrest a former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, vowing to pursue the case to its logical conclusion.

Olukoyede vowed to resign as EFCC chairman if Bello was not prosecuted even as he declared that he would bring to book those who obstructed the arrest of the former governor.

The EFCC chairman vowed that everyone involved in obstructing Bello’s arrest from his Abuja residence would face the full wrath of the law.

He hinted that the incumbent Kogi State governor, Usman Ododo, accused of helping his predecessor to escape arrest, may be investigated for obstructing a lawful operation.

The EFCC is seeking to arraign Bello on 19 counts bordering on alleged money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2bn.

Olukoyede said that no matter what anyone did or the amount of attack against the anti-graft agency, he and his men would not relent in helping to sanitise the country.

He revealed how he put a phone call across to Bello following the allegations of corruption brought against him.

Olukoyede said, “I called Yahaya Bello, as a serving governor, to come to my office to clear himself. I shouldn’t have done that. But he said because a certain senator had planted over 100 journalists in my office, he would not come.

“I told him that he would be allowed to use my private gate to give him a cover, but he said my men should come to his village to interrogate him.”

Olukoyede noted that the EFCC did not violate any law while trying to arrest the former governor from his residence.

“Rather, we have obeyed the law. I inherited the case and I didn’t create it. Why has he not submitted himself to the law?” he asked.

He added, “I have arraigned two past governors who have been granted bail now — Willie Obiano and Abdulfatah Ahmed.”

Speaking further, he said, “We would have gone after him since January but we waited for the court order. As early as 7 am, my men were there; over 50 of them. They mounted surveillance. We met over 30 armed policemen there. We would have exchanged fire and there would have been casualties.

“My men were about to move in when the governor of Kogi drove in and they later changed the narrative.”

He vowed that all those who had dipped their hands in the nation’s coffers would be investigated and prosecuted.

“If I can do (Ex-Anambra governor Willie) Obiano, (Ex-Kwara governor) Abdulfatah Ahmed and Chief Olu Agunloye, my kinsman, why not Yahaya Bello?” Olukoyede noted.

He further revealed how the former governor withdrew $720,000 from the state’s coffers to pay his child’s school fees in advance.

Olukoyede noted that Bello wired the $720,000 from the state’s coffers through a Bureau de Change operator.

The EFCC boss, while expressing his dissatisfaction with the ex-governor for failing to honour the EFCC summons, said, “A sitting governor, because he knew that he was going, he removed money directly from government’s account to bureau de change, and used it to pay his child’s school fee in advance. Dollars, $720,000 in advance, in anticipation that he was going to leave the government house.”

He expressed dismay over the activities of internet fraudsters which he said was enjoying the support of some unscrupulous Nigerians.

According to him, banks in the country lost over N8 billion to internet fraud in 2022.

He said more than 71 per cent of companies operating in Nigeria were victims of cybercrime in 2022, adding that the anti-graft agency’s fight against internet fraud is about saving the nation’s future.

Olukoyede disclosed that the commission has created a cybercrime research centre where convicted internet fraudsters, known in local parlance as Yahoo Yahoo boys, will be trained to channel their knowledge to positive aspects of society.

The EFCC chair also said the agency is prosecuting two of its operatives for violating the agency’s code of conduct.

He said the commission has implemented some reforms to enhance its fight against corruption, including creating a directorate of fraud risk assessment/control and ethics/integrity.

Meanwhile, ex-governor Bello was on Tuesday served his charges through his counsel, Abdulwahab Muhammad (SAN) after Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, ruled that the defendant should be served through his counsel, especially as he failed to appear before the court, yet again.

This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by the EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale.

The EFCC is prosecuting Bello alongside his Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman and Abdulsalam Hudu on 19-count charges bordering on money laundering to the tune of N80.2bn

The commission’s attempt to arrest him last Wednesday at his Abuja residence failed as Bello refused to grant the operatives access to his residence or give himself up, leading to a stand-off which lasted for several hours.

He subsequently managed to escape the dragnet as he was allegedly helped by Governor Ododo who took him away in his car.

The EFCC declared him wanted while the Nigeria Immigration Service put him on its watchlist.

At Tuesday’s sitting, Bello’s counsel, Adeola Adedipe (SAN) prayed the court to quash the arrest warrant granted the commission against Bello, arguing that Tuesday’s substituted service to the defendant through Muhammad has invalidated the arrest warrant.

“The court is expected to do justice at all times. A warrant of arrest cannot be hanging on Bello’s neck when we are in this court. It appears to us that the defendant will not get justice because the court granted a warrant of arrest before service,” he said.

However, prosecution counsel, Kemi Piniero (SAN) in response, urged the court to decline hearing on any motion from Bello’s legal team until the defendant is physically present in court for his arraignment.

“The stage we are in now is to determine the whereabouts of the defendant. He cannot be in his house while the trial proceeds without him coming here to take his plea. My Lord, this is a criminal matter not a civil matter, he must come and take his plea.

‘’It is a matter of over N80 billion. All these applications by the defendant are to prevent his arraignment and frustrate the commencement of trial,” he said.

After hearing both counsels, Justice Nwite adjourned ruling on the defence’s application, seeking a revocation of the arrest warrant on Bello till May 10.

 

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