EFCC arrests Fidelity Bank managing director for helping Diezani launder $115m in cash

ECONOMIC and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives have arrested the managing director and chief executive of Fidelity Bank Nnamdi Okonkwo for allegedly receiving $115m from former petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.

 

Currently facing several corruption charges including allegation of $20bn missing oil money, Ms Alison-Madueke was arrested by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) along with four others last October. She is currently out on bail awaiting trial and a sum of £27,000 was seized from her at the request of the EFCC.

 

Yesterday, EFCC operatives raided Ms Alison-Madueke's Abuja home and confiscated jewellery said to be worth £600m. As a follow-on to the investigations, they have now arrested Mr Okonkwo and some officials of his bank for serving as a conduit through which money was laundered.

 

Mr Okonkwo was taken into EFCC custody three days ago for presiding over the receipt of such huge cash and helping to distribute it to beneficiaries two days to the last general elections. He is said to have violated extant law by not reporting the receipt and warehousing of the cash to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, as required by law.

 

Ms Alison-Madueke is said to have summoned the bank chief to her Abuja home and told him to prepare to receive foreign currency running into billions of naira from four companies and to convert it to naira and pay them to designated beneficiaries on her behalf. A day after receiving the instructions from her, four companies stormed the bank with various amounts of cash and were promptly received.

 

According to the EFCC, Actus Integrated paid in $17,884, Northern Base Gas Company paid $60m, Midwestern Oil and Gas $9.5m and Laitan Adesanya paid in $1.35m. Ms Alison-Madueke on her part, allegedly lodged $26m cash into the same account on that day.

 

Apparently, shortly after paying in the cash, Ms Alison-Madueke son, Ugonna, approached Mr Okonkwo and furnished him with the list of beneficiaries of the cash as instructed by his mother. Although the bank chief complained that he would not have enough time to effect the immediate distribution of the money as instructed by the then minister, she asked him to use every available cash to pay the beneficiaries and use dollars as collateral.

 

One senior EFCC official said that Mr Okonkwo has been cooperative and made useful confessions to operatives. It is not yet clear, however, when and if he will be charged to court or if he would be refund the money to the government.