FOREX SCANDAL: DANGOTE DISPUTES ANY MISCONDUCT, BUT EMEFIELE IS FACING MORE CHARGES

•An anti-graft agency is looking into corporate entities and individuals, and Ex-CBN Gov may be facing numerous money laundering accusations.

•Commission states that the probe is separate from Obazee's report.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has written to about 85 private citizens and business entities about purportedly made by Godwin Emefiele, the unstable former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

A redesigned charge based on new data he gathered from his inquiry into the FX transactions that are looked thoroughly.

The Dangote Group and BUA Plc are at the top of the list, according to information our correspondent gathered on Saturday, despiteit was unable to independently verify the specifics of the remaining 85 companies impacted by the current probe.

According to a senior EFCC source, the all-inclusive, in-depth, and independent of Jim Obazee's report, the special investigator that President Bola Tinubu assigned to look into the CBN.

That Emefiele would face fresh charges in connection with the EFCC's ongoing probe into FX.

Agents from the EFCC conducted raids on Thursday at the BUA Towers, located at PC 32, Churchgate Street, Victoria Island, Lagos State, and the Dangote Industries Limited headquarters in Ikoyi, Lagos. This move was possible misappropriation of Emefiele's FX allotments.

Even after Dangote Group officials confirmed the raid and said they were helping the anti-graft agency by supplying relevant materials, BUA insisted that EFCC investigators had not broken into its premises.

A senior EFCC official stated that the agency is investigating allegations that Emefiele distributed favored foreign exchange in contravention of the CBN Act and existing regulations

The official declared, “The EFCC is looking into over 85 entities, which include companies and individuals.” I certify that the Dangote Group and BUA Plc are two of the eighty-five organizations under investigation for the preferential foreign exchange allocations made by former CBN governor Godwin Emefiele in contravention of the CBN Act and the norms and regulations governing current financial institutions. There are now more than 52 entities included in the probe.

The commission has invited some officials of those companies and persons associated with the allocations for questioning, and all impacted entities have been requested to furnish their financial records spanning from 2014 to 2023. We learned that former President Muhammadu Buhari had not authorized those amounts, therefore it was more of a way for the former governor of the CBN and his friends to use bureau de change operators and forex transactions to launder money. However, it should be highlighted that our research is thorough, deeper, and all-encompassing, and it is wholly unrelated to the report from the CBN investigator, Obazee. Since fresh information from the FX investigation has come to light, the accusations against the former governor of the CBN will probably be changed.

“The findings in the recent investigation into forex transactions involving numerous individuals and organizations show that the former governor of the CBN will face amended charges shortly,” the EFCC source continued. Emefiele will respond to the charges as soon as the commission's lawyers have finished their work on that. We now know that he helped friends, family, business associates, and others by using his position.

There are many accusations made against him. It is unfortunate that a guy of his stature would utilize his authority in that manner.

“He's going to be charged with additional offenses as well, such as money laundering and even possible office abuse involving the declaration of assets.”

The EFCC agents who had besieged Dangote and BUA's offices on Thursday left with documents pertaining to the companies' foreign exchange dealings, according to Sunday PUNCH.

According to information obtained by our correspondent, the anti-graft agents searched both offices for many hours starting at 3 p.m.

On Saturday, when asked with the most recent development, Dele Oyewale, the EFCC spokesperson, declined to comment. The decision was made to call in the representatives of the companies to deliver the documents to Abuja on Tuesday because, despite reports that the EFCC agents removed some documents during the search on Thursday, the materials did not cover every transaction.

However, a high-ranking EFCC official stated that the company's senior executives were required to provide the agency with “detailed and unambiguous documents on the demands by the commission.”

It was learned that on Tuesday, the officials were anticipated at the agency's office.

Yes, the Dangote staff made was given enough time to get the necessary paperwork. It's not meant you're witch-hunting someone. The EFCC officer told our correspondent, speaking anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss, that the commission was just looking for documentation and disbursement of government funds.

An advertisement that the EFCC list of every FX transaction the company had received from the CBN beginning in 2014 on December 6, 2023. The company replied that it had received the letter, extension of time, subsidiaries or group were the focus.

The statement continued, However, the EFCC refused to provide the justification we asked for, turned down an extension, and insisted on receiving the whole set of allocated time. Despite assuring the EFCC that we would provide the information and would release the documents in batches.

On January 4, 2024, our team delivered the first batch of documents to the EFCC. But EFCC representatives insisted on coming to our offices to pick up the identical set of documents in person and refused to accept the documents.