The sum of $6,230,000 allegedly stolen from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on February 8, 2023, was shared and invested into real estate, according to court documents.
The $6.2 million, according to the special presidential investigative team, led by Jim Obaze, that probed the tenure of the immediate past CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was removed from the apex bank’s vault under the guise of paying election observers.
Emefiele is standing trial on an alleged 20-count amended charge, preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He was alleged to have engaged in criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to obtain by false pretence and obtaining money by false pretence when he served as central bank chief.
In the court documents, investigators described the theft as an insider’s job, allegedly effected by mainly, CBN officials with the connivance of two outsiders, identified as Adamu Abubakar and Imam Abubakar.
According to the documents, investigators claimed that Odoh Eric Ocheme, Emefiele’s personal assistant, received $3,730,000 of the funds, with three other people splitting the remaining $2,500,000.
Ocheme was said to have justified his lion’s share by claiming he had to pay other interests he had within the apex bank.
In one of the court documents, it was revealed that some of the beneficiaries invested their shares of the loot, estimated at about N1.4 billion in real estate, part of which has now been recovered.
In an affidavit filed along with an extradition charge pending against Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar and Odoh Eric Ocheme before a Federal High Court in Abuja, one of the investigators, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, gave details of investigators’ findings and progress made so far.
Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar and Ocheme are said to be at large and are believed to have fled the country.
This informed the initiation of extradition proceedings against them before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The Deputy Superintendent of
Police vwas quoted to have said: “We commenced
investigation into the case and obtained copies of
the withdrawal slip as well as the acconmpanying
documents, Central Bank of Nigeria memos,
dated 07/02/2023 and 31/01/2023 respectively,
staff identity card of one Jibril Abubakar, letter
dated 2/01/2023 purportedly written by
Muhammadu Buhari to Boss Mustapha and letter
dated 20/01/2023 purportedly written by Boss
Mustapha to Mr Godwin Enmafiele, which the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja Branch relied on in
making the payment.
“Investigation at the office of the President as well
as the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation in the Stale House revealed that the
letters purportedly written by Muhammadu Buhari
and for Secretary to the Government of the
Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha did not emanate
from the offices respectively, while Jibril Abubakar,
whose identity card was used to cash the money
in question is not a staff of the office of the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“We watched the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV)
footages of the 08/02/2023 being the day the
money in question was cashed, and the payee
(Jibril Abubakar) could not be identified by the
staff of either the CBN or that of the office of the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
where he falsely represented himself to be
working.
“A further study of the Closed-circuit Television
(CCTV) footage revealed that a staff of the Abuja
Branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, identified as
Abdulmajeed Muhammad received the impostor
(Jibril Abubakar) at the gate of the bank when he
arrived on the fateful date: 08/02/2023.
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“Abdulmajeed Muhammad was consequently
arrested and in his statement made on
15/12/2023, he admitted helping the impostor
into the Abuja Branch of the Central Bank of
Nigeria, but claimed that he did that innocently,
the impostor having been referred to him by
Bashirudeen Maishanu; a Senior Staff of the CBN.
