- DIG, Others Fall Victim
- Police, Top Officials Open Up
Ronke Kehinde
Those who live in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial honeypot know that tax matters are serious business to the state government.
With a monthly average of over N20.5 billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), according to Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), and the increase in taxpayers from 2.7 million to 3.1 million, Lagos is riding on the crest of a wave.
But as the government is proving smart in squeezing money out of the taxpayers, some bankers have proven ‘smarter’ in siphoning part of the deposits running into tens of millions of naira.
And like the French would say: Cher chez la Femme (Look for the woman; there’s a woman at the bottom of it).
According to police detectives, a female bank manager has been held as the suspected brain behind the racket which they described as a monumental fraud.
The suspect allegedly led a syndicate made up of mainly female bankers, who were accused of stashing some of the tax payments collected from their bank’s customers on behalf of Lagos State government into their personal accounts, a police source told Chief Detective in Lagos.
The source said: “The fraud had been made possible by the technical problems some of the banks were experiencing then linking their operations with the consulting firm in charge of tax collections for Lagos State government. The bankers capitalized on the loophole to collect money from customers and issue them fake receipts without remitting the money to the bank.
“There were a lot of technical issues with the software being used to generate the tax receipts then and that greatly contributed to the scam. The money involved was in tens of millions of naira. The bank was compelled to pay up or risk being sanctioned by the government.
“The bank management was dazed. It was unbelievable the way everything was perpetrated by the people involved. And the strange thing was that nearly all those involved were ladies.”
The ghost of the Mafia, first uncovered at the defunct First Inland Bank (FINBANK), is now hunting First City Monument Bank (FCMB) that acquired the bank in 2012.
While the police were still investigating the tax fraud, other revelations came up, as a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Archibong Nkanga, lodged a complaint of how he was swindled of N30 million by another female branch manager of FINBANK, who was identified as Rosemary Usifo.
A firm also levelled allegation of N35 million-fraud against Usifo, who has now been charged and awaiting trial at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, as well as the Lagos High Court, Ikeja.
On the Lagos tax fraud, Chief Detective sources said virtually all the staff in the unit charged with collection of taxes in the bank appeared to have been aware of what had been happening though only a few were actually implicated with concrete evidence and were sacked by the bank authorities after being quizzed by the police at the Special Fraud Unit (SFU).
The police source added: “It was a very clever operation carried out over several years. The mysterious thing about the whole occurrence however was the fact that the bank’s inspection unit which carried out periodic audit of the unit’s operations could not discover the fraud that was going on until detectives were brought in posing as staff posted to the branch.”
A top official of the bank, who was also quizzed by the police, said: “The perpetrators of the fraud were busy smiling to the bank, taking frequent trips abroad and buying flashy cars while the party lasted.
“They were living it big. Even some other staff wondered how they were getting the money they were spending. At least we all knew our salaries and when you see some of your colleagues living above their income, you would wonder. Some of the ladies told us that their husbands were working in some blue chip companies, but we later found out it was all lies. They were feeding fat on tax payers’ money.”
“The syndicate was very difficult to smash. It was a very tight Mafia. It took a combined effort of the police and some daredevil officers from the inspection unit of the bank to expose the nefarious activities. A number of customers had come to lodge complaints and the bank management had sensed that something fishy was happening in the unit. The magnitude of fraud discovered was amazing. The staff involved were quizzed at the Special Fraud Unit and eventually dismissed.”
Meanwhile, the trial of Usifo could not commence on the expected date in 2014 and was adjourned till January 30, 2015, because the police could not produce the suspect.
When the matter came up before Justice Saliu Saidu, SFU’s lawyer, Effiong Asuquo, told the Court that Usifo could not be produced in court due to logistics problem.
Asuquo urged the Court to order the remand of the accused at the Kirikiri Prisons, since the SFU was experiencing challenges in bringing her from its custody. The Court answered his prayer.
Usifo first appeared in court on December 5, 2013; on a one-count charge of fraudulently obtaining the sum of N30 million from a fixed deposit account, belonging to retired DIG Nkanga, a customer of the bank.
She, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge, but the judge had ordered her remand at the SFU, pending her bail application.
In the charge, the prosecutor states that the accused committed the offence in 2011, by forging a letter, with which she fraudulently obtained the N30 million from Nkanga’s account.
According to the prosecutor, Usifo, who had been at large since the crime was committed in 2011, was eventually arrested by the Police in November 2013.
Usifo was also at the centre of a case between Edlawk Ventures Limited (EVL) and FCMB, after FINBANK was acquired by the former, in which she was charged with N35m fraud.
The legal representative of EVL claims that the firm maintained corporate bank account with FCMB at its branch office in Oke-Arin, Lagos Island, and the current account was managed by Usifo – an officer and staff of FCMB at the time.
According to the lawyer, Usifo had approached EVL between 2009 and 2010 for fixed money placement on an enticing interest package.
Eventually, the firm left the sum of N50,306,964.34 million as at January 31, 2012 in a Deposit\Fixed Account from the then existing current account.
The placement was renewable on periodic instructions and the operational mandate was that all letters and instruments of instruction or directives on any transaction on the account must be by a formal letter properly sealed with the customer’s corporate seal shown on the authorized mandate card specimen held by Usifo.
Accordingly, all cheques, instruments and letters from the firm to the bank were usually executed with this regular seal plus the signature of the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the firm before such instruments are honoured or acted upon by the bank.
But on March 21, 2012, Usifo allegedly approached the Chairman/CEO of EVL, Elder Edward Nosiri for assistance in the nature of a guarantee for a bridging loan of N35 million for another customer of the bank and for one month only (30 days).
Usifo allegedly told Nosiri that the guarantee and subsequent transaction with the third party would help to boost her client/customer base and in turn secure her continued employment and promotion in the bank.
After much persuasion by Usifo on the credibility and the financial status of the third party, Nosiri accepted to assist, provided only that the directors of the company (one Fabulous Fabrics Ltd) are physically presented at his office with copies of the Corporate Forms and up to date account statement of the company for assessment and verification.
On March 21, 2012, Nosiri allegedly wrote a letter to create a lien/charge in favour of Usifo on his N50, 826, 528.07 million fixed deposits with the bank for 30 days effective from the date.
Nosiri, however, withheld the mandate seal asking Usifo to bring the documents (C07 and C02) for his personal assessment and verification.
When Usifo allegedly could not come up with the forms and the physical presence of Fabulous Fabric’s director and six months’ bank statement of the company, after three days, Nosiri called Usifo on her mobile phone not to proceed with the transaction and to bring back the letter immediately.
Usifo allegedly promised to bring back the letter and to discontinue with the use of the letter accordingly.
On April 7, 2012, Nosiri travelled to the United Kingdom. When he returned, he called Usifo to enquire of the letter and Usifo categorically told him that Fabulous Fabrics had no need of the letter any more as the company had sourced for a property to secure the loan and Nosiri did not doubt Usifo who was then a manager and Nosiri’s account officer for many years.
Nosiri said he was later surprised to learn from correspondences from FCMB that his company’s N50.8 million has been used to secure loan of the sum of N35 million for the same Fabulous Fabrics by officers of the bank without his company’s authorisation.
From then on, Usifo allegedly refused to respond to Nosiri’s phone calls and on October 8, 2012, the aggrieved customer scheduled a meeting with FCMB officials to discuss the problem.
In one of such meetings, Nosiri was rattled to learn that Usifo had allegedly colluded with some other officers of FCMB at the branch to procure and forge a similar corporate seal from the specimen with FCMB purporting it to be that of Nosiri’s company with which other letters were written and instruments executed to procure the loan.
Nosiri further learnt from records in the office of FCMB that letters were written on April 23, 2012, purportedly in the name of his company to extend and elongate the loan beyond the initial 30 days.
FCMB also showed to Nosiri a copy of a formal Deed of Lien Guarantee duly endorsed with signature and sealed with a seal found to be a replica of that of Nosiri and his company.
Nosiri found out that the purported Deed of Lien/Guarantee was also witnessed by one Mr Pius Ujie – a known person to him and Usifo. The man was also a customer of FCMB at the same Oke-Arin branch.
When Nosiri confronted Ujie on the development, Ujie was said to have strongly disclaimed the document or having any knowledge of the attestation on the Deed of Lien/Guarantee shown to Nosiri.
Nosiri’s company, it was learnt, had also reported its allegations as a criminal complaint and it is being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Fabulous Fabrics defaulted in the repayment of the temporary overdraft facility and FCMB is withholding Nosiri’s N50.8 million and even threatening to convert part of it to its use.
FCMB in a statement of defence filed by its lawyers says it took the necessary precautions in approving the overdraft for Fabulous Fabrics and that it did not act illegally based on the documents in its possession.
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