Delta State Accountant General Cyril Agbele, his deputy Joy Enwa, Asaba branch manager Mabel Asaije of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB), and a staff member of the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue simply identified as "Prosper" have been implicated in a N369 million fraud.
Delta State Accountant General Cyril Agbele, his deputy Joy Enwa, Asaba branch manager Mabel Asaije of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB), and a staff member of the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue simply identified as "Prosper" have been implicated in a N369 million fraud.
SaharaReporters reliably learned that the suspects defrauded the state government of N369 million hleld in its account in FCMB, which had been the destination for deposits from the state’s Board of Internal Revenue.
Confiding in SaharaReporters, one of the officers from the Delta State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the crack team that arrested the FCMB manager and others, said the bank manager, the AG, the deputy AG and some staffers of the internal revenue board connived to defraud the state government of the money just a few days before expiration of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s term.
According to the police officer, who pleaded for anonymity, the suspects were arrested following a tip off after the sum was transferred to another bank by the FCMB manager.
The police officer disclosed that when further investigations were carried out, a sum of N70 million was traced to a Canadian account owned by the son of the FCMB manager as her own share of the fraudulent deal.
"In the course of our investigations, we discovered that the FCMB manager is a serial fraudulent woman who has been in this illicit deal of fraud. This is the second time of her involvement with the full knowledge of the Delta State accountant general, the deputy accountant general and other staff of the internal revenue board.
"The FCMB manager, who is the prime suspect here, was granted bail with the sum of N500,000. Others were also granted bail too and were asked to report to the police headquarters Asaba on a daily basis. We also invited the BM officer, funds transfer officer, customer care officer and accounts officer of the bank," the officer stated.
Several calls and messages sent to the phone line of the FCMB manager were all ignored and SaharaReporters’ correspondent was rebuffed during a visit to the bank’s location on Nnebisi road, but a staffer familiar with the fraud confirmed to SaharaReporters that the story was true, saying that since her boss was granted bail, she has said she will get away with the fraud.
"She has been boasting that the case will not see the light of the day because of her close relationship with the zonal head of the bank, Mr. Chinedu Ogosi and few government officials,” the staffer stated. She also noted that the manager had fired and changed operational managers at the bank in order to enable the fraud.
When contacted, deputy accountant general Joy Enwa and the accountant general Cyril Agbele of former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan's government both declined to comment while the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer Celestina Kalu confirmed the story but said the matter was still under investigation.