The spate of frauds in the Banking industry in Nigeria is becoming embarrassing and it is time that the Nigerian Government take the neccessary steps to address this shameful practice:

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested a retired naval captain, Okorie Ogbonnaya, for allegedly defrauding Oceanic Bank Plc (now Ecobank Plc) of over N540m.

The commission also arrested Ogbonnaya’s lawyer, Emmanuel Mbajuwon, for conspiring with his client to perpetrate the fraud.

EFCC Head of Operations, Iliyasu Kwarbai, told PUNCH Metro that 51-year-old Ogbonnaya committed the alleged fraud under the pretext of importing bags of rice from Thailand for Cooperative Federation of Imo State.

He said Ogbonnaya took a loan of N196m from the bank and also caused the bank to lose $2.4m after the bank had issued him a letter of credit to a foreign bank.

He said, “Sometime in 2011, Ogbonnaya, who is the owner of Akaeze Ventures Enterprise, approached Cooperative Federation of Imo State saying he could supply them with rice below the market value.

“Ogbonnaya was able to obtain a bank guaranty from Imo State Government to Oceanic Bank and subsequently got a letter of credit from the bank worth $6.5m.

“The rice manufacturers, based on the documents received from Oceanic Bank, supplied Ogbonnaya with the rice and also gave him $90,000 to be used for logistics and other miscellaneous affairs which would be refunded to the manufacturers after the rice had been sold.”

The EFCC alleged that the retired naval officer squandered the $90,000 which should have been used for clearing the goods.

Kwarbai alleged that the suspect, in desperation, urged members of the cooperative to pay N20m in advance for the rice and also approached the bank for a loan of N196m to finance his business.

He said, “Ogbonnaya approached his lawyer, Mbajuwon, to stand surety for him and he took a loan of N196m from the bank. The shipment was supposed to be the collateral but Ogbonnaya was able to clear the goods and sideline the bank.

“Mbajuwon was also able to get a court order restraining the bank from having access to the rice and soon after, Ogbonnaya disappeared, making it difficult for the bank to trace him even after the bank was able to overturn the dubious court order.”

The EFCC alleged that the suspects were able to sell all the rice without giving the bank any of the money.

It was also alleged that the suspects opened a joint account with First Bank of Nigeria Plc, where they deposited the money and later transferred to a foreign bank.

Kwarbai added, “Ogbonnaya sold only a portion of the rice to the cooperative and then moved others to some other companies at the market value. Yet, after getting all this money, he did not pay Oceanic Bank a dime.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that when the bank was able to locate the suspect, only bags of rice worth N1m, were left.

The EFCC told our correspondent that Ogbonnaya did not even pay for the rice that had been bought, causing the foreign bank to obtain another $2.24m from Oceanic Bank.

Kwarbai said, “Since Oceanic bank was the one that issued a letter of credit for Ogbonnaya, and he did not pay for the rice, Oceanic Bank was compelled to pay the money thereby incurring a double loss.”

The suspects, it was learnt, would be charged to court on Wednesday (today) for fraud.

Source: http://www.punchng.com/metro/ex-naval-officer-lawyer-arrested-for-n540m-bank-fraud/

These fraudsters should face the wrath of the law and serve as an example to impending fraud criminals. For Nigeria to progress, it is imperative that these fraudulent activities are curtailed.

Italiano1: The spate of frauds in the Banking industry in Nigeria is becoming embarrassing and it is time that the Nigerian Government take the neccessary steps to address this shameful practice:




These fraudsters should face the wrath of the law and serve as an example to impending fraud criminals. For Nigeria to progress, it is imperative that these fraudulent activities are curtailed.

I hope these criminals rot in hell. They are a disgrace to Nigeria! No wonder, the country is labelled as a corrupt nation when the rich are consistently plotting to defraud financial institutions in other to amass more money at the expense of the poor. Shocking!

I say they should be hanged

Okorie ogbonaya,what an industrious man.

This thread should be on the frontpage

Good for the bank. Well. Written article with one omission, how much
Did this guy paid in egunje to numerous bank officials to look
The other way.

Is it bad news or good news? Ok no news in good news.

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The hardworking men from the land of the rising sun

why dem no move am to front page

ode remo: Good for the bank. Well. Written article with one omission, how much Did this guy paid in egunje to numerous bank officials to look The other way.

The bank has several questions to answer but I won't conclude yet that they were outrightly fraudulent.  The bank may have made errors of judgement rather than outright collusion, or just incompetent; since we are not sure,I think it's premature to start making conclusive statements.

It will also be good to hear the story from the man/suspect. The bank issued the LC based on the guaranty from Imo state government and approved the loan using the consignment as the collateral in addition to the client's lawyer standing as surety.

In any case, I find the loan approval of N196m rather curious because the man did not need it for the rice importation business to succeed because he had already got an LC of $6.5mNevertheless, many questions are begging for answers:

1. Why hasn't the bank called in the Imo state guaranty? Moreso, the bank has already paid $2.24 to the foreign bank.

2. Why did the bank release the shipping documents to the man? I expected the bank to have cleared the consignment into a warehouse from where they would release to the man. It appears that the bank did not do this thereby making the man to capitalize on the corruption in the system to divert the consignment. It seems that the bank was too far from the transaction.

3. As earlier noted, why did the bank approve N196m for the man after the issuance of the LC?

4. How much really is the consignment - the $6.5m LC or the $2.24m paid to the foreign bank? What's the reason for the major difference? Meanwhile, the dollar equivalent of N540m is about $3.6m (using N150 to a dollar).

5. Was the bank in touch with the target customer (Cooperative Federation)? If yes, how come the bank didn't know that the man had collected N20m advance from the Cooperative? If no, what's the bank explanation on this omission?

6. Was the bank not aware that the man got another $90,000 from the rice manufacturer? This is another reason why the man didn't need the N196m loan.

7. What documents did the bank collect from the lawyer who stood surety for the man for the N196m loan? Is he in court as a surety or as a co-conspirator, or both?

8. To which foreign bank did the man transfer money from First Bank?

9. This story makes the man look like a superman: he got an LC of $6.5m opened for him, got a guaranty from Imo state, received $90,000 from the rice manufacturer for logistics, collected an advance payment of N20m from the Cooperative, got a lawyer as surety, cleared off the goods to his desired location, obtained a 'dubious' court injunction to stop the bank, sold off the rice,  opened another account in FirstBank, sold the rice to some other companies as well, etc!!!

When found wanting, both the 'super' man and his lawyer should be made to face the maximum punishment in order to serve as a deterrent to others like him.

I can't just imagine a man can go to that extent all in the name of making money !

He should go rot in jail.
Don't forget to make it maximum jail!

SHALOm

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Please friends is there any final verdict on the case by the judge because I 'll be need the full detail of this fraud case to complete my project @ school and if there is ,how can ui get to the source or how can I access the final judgement? Thanks!