A deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and four deputy directors have been suspended by the apex bank for failing to follow financial regulations and due process, leading to the scamming of the bank by fraudsters.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, Financial System Surveillance, Joseph Nnanna, is currently on suspension for being involved in 'a sophisticated plot' to defraud the bank a huge sum of money. Findings revealed that four directors of the bank were also suspended over the multi-million naira scam.
Some top officials of CBN close to the development, told a correspondent on the condition of anonymity, that their suspension was ordered by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele after preliminary findings revealed that they might be culpable.
It was reported that the CBN on Thursday night, said it had uncovered what it described as a highly sophisticated plot to defraud the bank by some people.
A statement by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okoroafor, revealed that while preliminary investigations had not disclosed, any accomplices within the bank, some personnel within the CBN, had been placed on suspension.
The nature of the fraud was not specified in the statement. It, however, said the need to place the officials on suspension was to allow for proper investigations by the relevant authorities.
The statement read, "A highly sophisticated plot to defraud the CBN by some criminally minded elements has been uncovered and aborted by the bank.
"Although preliminary investigations so far have not revealed any accomplices within the CBN, the management has decided to place all key personnel involved in the transaction on suspension.
"This is to ensure a full and unfettered investigation. This incidence has been reported to the relevant authorities."
It was gathered that the suspended Deputy Governor, Joseph Nnanna, responded to some spam emails without first cross-checking the authenticity of the mails and following CBN stringent payment process before authorising the release of funds when the governor and several senior officials of the bank were on a flight to China last month.
The names of the affected deputy directors could not be ascertained but they include the deputy director in charge of payment, the deputy director trade and exchange department, and the deputy director in the office of the governor, who heeded Nnanna’s directive to pay when they themselves ought to know CBN’s payment due process.
It was learnt that $441,000 was initially lost to the scammers. $251,000 was however blocked and recovered, leaving a balance of $190,000, which had already been cashed by the fraudsters.
Two of the scammers were however caught in Dubai, United Arab Emirate and are currently being questioned by investigators.
From their modus operandi, the scammers apparently timed the execution of the fraud to take place when the CBN governor and other deputy governors were out of the country
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