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Dirty Deals At StanbicIBTC Bank As Customer’s Billion Of Naira Disappears

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6 years ago

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There is no doubt that the nose-dived economy of Nigeria is taking it turns on the citizens and corporate organisation’s alike. But that does not means that bankers, who ordinarily are supposed to be custodians of trust should turned into pilferers, engaging in fraudulent activities, from outright stealing of customers money, to colluding with criminal elements and even divulging of confidential information.

 

This development according to a source at the security department of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is giving top officials of the apex bank sleepless nights due to its damaging impact on customer confidence.

 

It could be recalled that last week three employees of Zenith Bank Plc at the banks Ajose Adeogun street, headquarters in Victoria Island, Lagos were whisked away by men of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos for their alleged involvement in a $2m fraud.

 

There have been similar cases involving employees of other banks in recent times. However, the scope of what allegedly took place at Stanbic IBTC has left even the law enforcement agencies investigating the matter speechless.

 

According to a Police source, Lonestar Drilling Nigeria Limited in a petition to the Police dated 11th March 2013 alleged that there were unauthorized withdrawals from two of its accounts at the Stanbic IBTC Bank at Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos.

 

According to the petition, about N40,903,764.36 (Forty Million, Nine Hundred and Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty Four Naira, Thirty Six Kobo) and $547,881,26USD (Five Hundred and Forty Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty one Dollars, Twenty Six cents) were fraudulently withdrawn from their accounts managed by one Olalekan Kuti.

 

The said petition also noted that results from an internal audit by the company revealed that the said Kuti in connivance with some employees of Lonestar Drilling have been making unauthorized withdrawals from the said accounts under the false pretence of payment of staff salaries without a monthly mandatory payment advice; from the accounts departments.

 

Trouble started when the company discovered cases of diversion of funds, stealing and outright sabortage from some of its directors and it went ahead to suspend them from its management. The directors however colluded with Stanbic IBTC to defraud the company the more and sell off some of its properties at rock bottom prices.

IGP Idris

 

During the course of Police investigation it was discovered that the founder of Lonestar Drilling Chief Humphrey Idisi was purported to have taken a loan facility of $200 million from Stanbic IBTC Bank for the acquisition of two rigs, but after the death of Chief Idisi in 2009, Stanbic IBTC started diverting all proceeds from the company to its own use.

 

Lovette Idisi, son of the founder of the company claimed in his deposition that the company makes about $240,000USD (Two Hundred and Forty Thousand dollars) daily from its two operational oil rigs and that an internal audit indicted some members of the company’s management to fraudulently make withdrawals and divert funds from the company.

 

The petitioner also alleged that since 2009, Stanbic IBTC have refused to disclose how much they have deducted from the oil rigs, moreso, that the Bank colluded with some directors of the company to start selling off some of the properties of the company at below market prices to themselves and their cronies.

 

He gave an example of a new ocean going vessel MV Kinklock acquired by Lonestar Drilling at the sum of N200 million but was sold off by the Bank at a paltry N10 million without the consent of the management of the company. Also the bank sold two heavy duty generators bought at N100 million each but were sold for N50 million each.

 

Chief (Mrs) Margareth Idisi, the Chairperson of Lonestar Drilling and widow of the founder of the company maintained that the loan purported to have been entered by her husband was fraudulent as her husband was not in the right physical frame to have signed any document as at the time in question and that she was with her husband at his hospital bed throughout that period.

 

She alleged that Oladele Kuti should be held responsible for the fraud. She said that as soon as it was discovered that there has been several fraudulent activities in the company, she sacked the management, but that those sacked colluded with the Bank to draw their salaries from the Bank without consulting her.

 

The Police however confirmed that Oladele Kuti confessed to having received documents from the Chairperson regarding the changes in the management of the company but that the Bank refused to honour it because there was no board resolution removing the former directors as at the time the letter was sent to the Bank.

 

He equally confessed bringing it to the notice of the Bank’s management and legal department and that all decisions he took were in line with instructions from the Bank’s management.

 

Further investigations also show that the said Oladele Kuti lives far beyond his means as he has properties far beyond what his job could provide.

 

For example, he has two foreign accounts with Barclays Bank and CitiBank respectively and that he also has two oil companies, a 3 bedroom flat at UPDC Estate Lekki,6 Bedroom apartment Ikorodu,6 plots of land at Olambe, Ogun State,6 plots of land at Mowe, a mortgaged property in London, Frank Enterprises, and Caleb Chroster Limited.

 

Also during investigation, he could not explain what happened to about $15 million US Dollars which is part of the $25 million dollar loan purportedly signed by Chief Idisi.

 

The Police report which reads like an indictment on the Bank shows that Stanbic IBTC failed to produce all the loan agreements as requested by the management of Lonestar Drilling Nigeria Limited. The Police also established that here were abundant evidence of fraudulent withdrawal of funds as contained in the audit report from the company.

 

And that the termination took place due to the frauds uncovered at the company. The Police also noted that the purported $25 million loan said to have been signed by the late Chief Idisi was a fraud as handwriting experts have discovered several discrepancies between the real signature and the forged one. Moreso, that Chief Idisi was sick in the United States as at that time and his wife and those attending to him could not recollect him ever signing any document even though he was not disposed to hold a pen due to the state of his health.

 

Stanbic IBTC was also unable to explain how the 2009 loan extension of $250,000,000 USD was disbursed as no document on that was produced. The Police equally discovered that Oladele Kuti’s account with GT Bank showed all the fraudulent transfers from Lonestar Drilling’s account to his personal account, and that throughout that period he transferred the sum of N14,310,000.00 (Fourteen Million, three hundred and ten thousand naira) from Lonestar Drilling’s account to his personal account.

 

The Police was shocked to find that upon all fraudulent transactions the Bank made a direct debt of $300,000 into the account on July 26th 2010,in benefit of Cammpro Limited with no supporting document for the payment. Equally shocking was that $40,697,50 was made in favour of Stanbic IBTC and Rs Platou was debited directly into the account of Lonestar by the Bank without the consent of the company.

 

This is in addition to the $1,000,000 deducted directly from the company’s account on 31 January 2011 by Stanbic IBTC without approval as there was no bank payment advice raised by the company to reflect the deduction of the said money.

 

It was in view of these very weighty evidences that the Police suggested that the suspects be arraigned in court because according to the Police, there were sufficient evidence for prosecution.

 

To this end Oladele Kuti (Account Officer), Head of Oil and Gas Unit of Stanbic IBTC, Luqman Agboola, a staff of Diamond Bank Plc, Francis Atoju, MD/CEO of Vantage Management consultant and Engr Frances Anene, Former MD/CEO of Lonestars Drilling Nigeria Ltd and others still at large were charged to court on a Nine count charges of conspiracy to commit felony and money laundering.

 

However, this newspaper made efforts to contact Stanbic IBTC to hear its side of the story, Barene Beard the officer contacted asked us to speak with Nkiru Olumide-Ojo who forwarded to us a prepared statement from the bank on the issue which reads thus:

 

“Thank you for your enquiry regarding the Lonestar Drilling Nigeria Ltd vs 8 others, including Stanbic IBTC. As you are aware, there is a case on this matter in the Federal High Court, Port-Harcourt and this precludes us from commenting on this matter. We would like to state however that Stanbic IBTC is a responsible corporate citizen, with confidence in the nation’s legal process, which will show when concluded; that we acted appropriately in this matter.”

 

However, observers are quick to note that Oladele Kuti may be the fall guy for his superiors at Stanbic IBTC who were in the full know of the whole fraudulent activities and they not only gave their go ahead but also approved some of the criminal acts perpetrated by their officer with their knowledge.

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House Of Reps committee indicts oil firms for tax evasion….

Published

3 days ago

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May 26, 2023

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….As FIRS rejects allegations by the House Committee that he is not doing enough to recover outstanding taxes and bring evaders to book..

 

The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the Structure and Accountability of Joint Venture (JV) Business and Production Sharing Contract (PSC) of NNPC has indicted several oil companies for alleged tax evasion to the tune of trillions of naira.

The committee also blamed and seek the prosecution of the Chairperson of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mamman Nami, for allegedly not doing enough to recover the outstanding taxes from the oil companies, a charge the FIRS boss rejected, saying his agency is working hard to bring all tax evaders to book.

Responding to the allegations levelled against his boss by the committee, the spokesperson for the FIRS chairperson, Johannes Oluwatobi Wojuola, described the claim as untrue, telling PREMIUM TIMES the tax agency is investigating and prosecuting several tax offenders.

According to the report obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), investigation by the committee span 1991 till date with alleged tax evasion running into trillions of naira.

The report is expected to be laid before the lawmakers this week.

The ad hoc committee investigation, chaired by Abubakar Fulata, revealed that the JVs and PSCs of NNPC sold Nigerian oil at lowest cost to their own subsidiaries in a ”tax haven”.

The committee alleged that the company subsequently sold the same oil to other buyers at full price, while inflating the cost of their Nigerian production operations and under-reporting the volume of oil they produced.

This, apart from outright circumvention of the Nigerian tax laws, the committee said is abusive and contrived tax avoidance scheme to minimise their tax liability.

The ad hoc committee is praying the house to adopt the recommendations with a view to bringing sanity in the oil and gas operation in Nigeria.

This according to the report of the committee would be a greater benefit to the citizens.

The committee report also showed that all international and national oil companies who enjoyed capital allowance in Nigeria had no Certificate of Acceptance of Fixed Asset (CAFA) as prescribed by the Industrial Inspectorate Act.

The report, however, said all oil companies that benefited from capital allowance without obtaining CAFA as prescribed by the Industrial Inspectorate Act be made to refund all the monies to the government treasury.

NAN reports that on 1 November, 2022 the House ad hoc committee investigating the structure and accountability of the Joint Venture (JV) Businesses and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCS) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited began probing oil companies accused of tax evasion.

The probe was at the backdrop of alleged tax evasion by some oil companies operating in Nigeria, which led to the constitution of the committee by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.

Mr Fulata, at a meeting with stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, cited relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

“This committee is relying on Section 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and we are asking heads of agencies who failed to forward their submissions to do so.

“This committee cannot fail in its mandate and we might resort to the use of Police and other security agencies to compel heads of agencies to do so.”

Mr Fulata decried that tax evasion by oil companies, particularly the International Oil Companies (IOCs) has negatively affected the revenue for the country.

Mr Fulata has expressed disappointment that several letters of invitation sent out to some organisations were not responded to, revealing that those who responded did so shabbily.

NAN reports that on 16 November, 2022, the house committee summoned the chairman of the FIRS.

The representatives of the FIRS, a director and special assistant, were not permitted by members of the committee to make presentations as they insisted that only the chairman is expected to speak on behalf of the agency.

The FIRS representatives had earlier told the committee that the service does not have access to the Stock Certificate of crude oil being lifted.

The representatives said the tax agency only relied on the invoice produced and presented to it by the oil companies. The committee then described the arrangement as ridiculous.

(NAN)

 

 

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Dapo Abiodun, Amosun Trade Words Over Dangote Refinery Siting In Lagos

Published

4 days ago

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May 25, 2023

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Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun and his predecessor, Ibikunle Amosun have traded blames over the siting of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos State.

The refinery with capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day which is owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote was inaugurated on Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari and four other African Presidents.

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi reportedly blamed the Ogun State Government for losing the siting of the behemoth Dangote Refinery to neighbouring Lagos State.

Interestingly, both Amosun, who was the Ogun State governor from 2011 to 2019; and Abiodun who has been the governor since 2019, attended the inauguration of the refinery.

The two politicians are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but operate from opposing camps in the state with Amosun preferring another candidate over Abiodun who won his re-election in the March 2023 poll.

‘Amosun Frustrated Dangote’s Efforts To Locate Refinery In Ogun’
In a statement, Abiodun’s Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin said it is painful that the huge investment that should have accrued to the state was lost, especially when the mega project had been initially planned to be located at the Olokola Free Trade Zone, in the Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the state.

“In truth, everyone knows that Segun Sowunmi is referring to the immediate past governor, Ibikunle Amosun, as the man who frustrated the efforts to locate the refinery in Ogun State.

“We are all aware that the penultimate administration made appreciable and concerted efforts to ensure that the Olokola deep sea port and other ancillary projects in the OKFTZ, become a reality, by rallying major players in the oil and gas sector, including Dangote Group.

“The present governor, Dapo Abiodun, served as the Chairman of the Committee on the Olokola Free Trade Zone projects during the first term of the immediate past governor,” the statement partly read.

Dangote Took Business Decisions — Amosun
However, Amosun, in a counter-statement by his media office signed by Bola Adeyemi, said the Olokola Free Trade Zone project was not solely owned by the Ogun State Government.

He noted that Dangote took a business decision by siting the refinery in Lagos after initial consideration for the Olokola Free Trade Zone.

“From its conception in 2007, it was a Joint Venture. The Federal Government of Nigeria owned the majority 51%, Ondo State Goverment (14.5%), Ogun State Goverment (14.5%), and strategic core investors (20%). Alhaji Aliko Dangote, according to the information availed us when we took office, subsequently bought, and took over the 20% equity of the core investors,” the statement partly read.

“Ogun State was a minority equity stakeholder only, without proprietary strength and capacity to take sole decisions on the Joint Venture enterprise.

“As mere holder of 14.5% equity interest, it is most uncharitable for anyone to churn out lies that Ogun State was in a position to unilaterally frustrate the project or was responsible for the logjam.

“With respect to all sides, it accords more with logic to appreciate the fact that Alhaji Aliko Dangote took business decisions of his own in accordance with the goals of his business strategy and risk assessment.

“No amount of concocted lies, blackmail and orchestrated falsehood will blight these unparalleled facts.

“It is, therefore, interesting to read that the present Ogun State governor holds me responsible for allegedly scuttling the Olokola project.”

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FrieslandCampina WAMCO DDP Revolution Delivers Nigeria’s First Girolando Crossbreeds

Published

5 days ago

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May 24, 2023

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FrieslandCampina WAMCO DDP Revolution

Delivers Nigeria’s First Girolando Crossbreeds

 

FrieslandCampina WAMCO has announced the successful crossbreeding and birth of 25 Crossbreed Girolando calves achieved locally across various farms in Oyo, Ogun and Kwara states, thus spearheading a production revolution and transformation of Nigeria’s dairy sector.  

 

The announcement made by the dairy company’s Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, Ore Famurewa, explained that the Girolando breed is a composite of ‘Milking Gir’ from Brazil and Holstein Friesian from the Netherlands and has produced tremendous results for many decades in Brazil, leading to its transformation to a world power in dairy production. 

 

“In addition to having a high milk yield, the Girolando breed is heat-tolerant, tick-borne disease resistant and possesses other characteristics ideal for production in tropical countries like Nigeria. The Girolando calves are the first generation of a new high milk producing breed in Nigeria” Famurewa said.

 

FrieslandCampina WAMCO continues to contribute to the development of the dairy sector and national food security through its Dairy Development activities and partnerships such as the Value4Dairy Consortium.

 

Launched in April 2021, the Value4Dairy Consortium made up of four strategic partners namely FrieslandCampina WAMCO (Nigeria’s foremost dairy Company), URUS (the largest cow genetics company in the world), Barenbrug (a leading grass seed company) and Agrifirm (a leading feed and supplement company in the Netherlands).

 

The consortium is making progress in implementing sustainable strategies to fast-track growth and development of the Nigerian dairy sector, with proven track records in various agri-related value chains.

 

Two partners of the Consortium, FrieslandCampina WAMCO and URUS Group LP, the global leader in cattle breeding and dairy herd management programs, selected the Girolando breed for introduction to Nigeria and subsequently signed an agreement with a local breeding farm-SMAP Farms Limited. The strategic partnership will maximize success in crossbreeding and increased milk yields on local farms in a sustainable way.

 

In 2022, 1400 Girolando semen straws were produced and 610 artificial inseminations achieved, and 25 Crossbreed Girolando calves have been birthed till date. FrieslandCampina WAMCO sees this key milestone achievement as an important step to give smallholder farmers access to affordable good yield dairy cows in Nigeria.

 

FrieslandCampina WAMCO and other partners of the Value4Dairy Consortium remain committed to providing scalable solutions to agri-related challenges in the Nigerian dairy sector. 

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