The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has written to over 85 entities comprising corporate organisations and individuals over an ongoing investigation into alleged fraudulent foreign exchange allocations under the embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.
It was gathered that Emefiele might face an amended charge to include new discoveries in the ongoing probe of forex transactions under his probe.
The anti-graft agency has also summoned senior officials of the affected entities and mandated them to provide detailed documents of their foreign exchange transactions covering the last nine years.
A top EFCC source revealed that the commission’s investigation was comprehensive, deeper, and encompassing, and independent of the report of the special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu to probe the CBN, Jim Obazee.
The source disclosed exclusively to Sunday PUNCH that Emefiele would face fresh charges by the EFCC over the ongoing foreign exchange probe.
Operatives of the EFCC had on Thursday stormed the headquarters of Dangote Industries Limited in Ikoyi, Lagos, and the BUA Towers located at PC 32, Churchgate Street, Victoria Island, Lagos State, in furtherance of the ongoing investigation into the alleged abuse of the foreign exchange allocations by Emefiele.
While officials of the Dangote Group confirmed the raid and stated that they were cooperating with the anti-graft agency by supplying relevant documents, BUA insisted that its offices were not raided by EFCC operatives.
A top EFCC official revealed that the agency was probing the preferential foreign exchange allocations allegedly made by Emefiele in defiance of extant financial rules and regulations and the CBN Act.
The official claimed, “The EFCC is investigating over 85 entities, which include companies and individuals. The probe has extended beyond 52 entities, and I can confirm that the Dangote Group and BUA Plc are part of the 85 entities under probe over the preferential foreign exchange allocations made by the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, in defiance of extant financial rules and regulations and in disregard of the CBN Act.
“Some officials of those companies and individuals connected with the allocations have been invited by the commission for questioning, and all the affected entities have been asked to provide their financial documents from 2014 to 2023. We discovered that those allocations were not approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari, so it was more of a means for the former CBN governor and his cronies to launder money through forex transactions and Bureau De Change operators.
“But it should be noted that our investigation is comprehensive; it is deeper and encompassing, and absolutely independent of the CBN investigator, Obazee’s report. The charges against the former CBN governor will most likely be amended as there have been more discoveries from the forex probe.”
The EFCC source added, “The discoveries in the recent probe into forex transactions involving many individuals and organisations show that the former governor of the CBN will face amended charges soon. Lawyers of the commission are working on that and as soon as that is done, Emefiele will answer to the charges.
“We have found out how he used his position to help friends and acquaintances, business associates, relations and others.
“The charges against him are plenty. It is a pity that such a highly placed man used his office the way he did it.
“He is also going to face other charges like money laundering, abuse of office, even abuse of office may involve the declaration of assets.”
Sunday PUNCH reports that following the siege by EFCC operatives to Dangote and BUA’s offices on Thursday, the operatives went away with documents on the firms’ forex transactions.
Our correspondent gathered that the search by the anti-graft operatives in both offices commenced around 3pm and lasted several hours.
When contacted over the latest development on Saturday, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, declined comments.
The company added that while its representatives were still at the EFCC office to deliver the documents, a team of the anti-graft agency’s operatives visited its office to demand for the same documents in a manner that appeared to be designed to cause embarrassment to it.
“We must emphasise that, to our knowledge, no accusations of wrongdoing have been made against any company within our group. At present, we are only responding to a request for information to assist the EFCC with their ongoing investigation,” the company added.
Before the raid, Dangote Industries had in November 2023 refuted allegations that it was involved in forex malpractices and money laundering involving $3.4bn allegedly facilitated by Emefiele.
The company denied the claims that the money was channelled to its non-Nigerian subsidiaries, prompting illicit financial flows and round-tripping.
Dangote noted that its investment undertakings were sourced from the interbank market, with all transactions supported by Letters of Credit in line with international standards.
During the raid, the operatives ransacked offices and carted away several financial documents related to forex allocations to the group from 2014 to June 2023, when Emefiele was suspended from office by President Bola Tinubu.
It was further gathered that the commission had asked the 51 firms under probe to submit Form A and Form M detailing the forex allocations to them between 2014 and June 2023.
But while some companies complied with the directive, several others were said to have asked for time to get the documents.
The Special Investigator on the CBN and Related Entities, Jim Obazee, had earlier reported to the President how Emefiele allegedly lodged public funds in foreign currencies in no fewer than 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China without the approval of the apex bank’s board of directors and the CBN Investment Committee.
Obazee found that the ex-CBN governor allegedly lodged £543, 482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks without authorisation, adding that he allegedly manipulated the naira exchange rate and committed fraud in the e-Naira project.
The investigator in a report submitted to the President on December 20, 2023, recommended that Emefiele, who is being prosecuted for alleged N1.2bn procurement fraud, should face fresh charges over the handling of the naira redesign policy and alleged illegal issuance of currency under Section 19 of the CBN Act.
He also recommended that the ex-CBN governor should be prosecuted alongside Tunde Sabiu, a former aide and nephew to former President Muhammadu Buhari, and 12 top directors of the CBN.