Probe says ex-Nigeria Central Bank Governor opened 593 foreign accounts
An investigation of Nigeria’s jailed former central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has discovered hundreds of unauthorized overseas bank accounts, according to portions of the report seen by Bloomberg.
President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele shortly after he took office in late May. The central banker was arrested soon afterward on charges including fraud and taken into custody. Tinubu subsequently ordered an investigation of the monetary authority’s operations and instructed it to work with security and anti-corruption agencies.
Emefiele, who remains in jail, has denied wrongdoing. His lawyers declined to comment on the investigation’s findings. A government spokesman did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
The special investigator appointed by Tinubu tracked down 593 bank accounts in the US, UK and China where “Emefiele invested Nigeria’s money without authorization,” the report said. This included 543 million pounds ($691 million) in fixed deposit accounts in the UK alone.
It was not clear from the portion of the report seen by Bloomberg in whose name the accounts were opened, what was the origin of the funds and how much money was involved overall. The report did characterize the sum as being in the “billions,” without specifying a currency.
The report also says that the former governor failed to get approval for a controversial redesign of the naira, which caused significant disruption due to its poorly organized rollout last year, as well as for questionable loans to the government.
It also detailed transactions that it described as theft and said that there was evidence of “chargeable offenses” against the governor and other members of the central bank’s leadership team at the time.
People familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of not being identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said additional charges against Emefiele and others were expected to be brought in January.
