EFCC recovers N171bn from bank debtors – Daily Trust

Debtors nailed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for non-performing loans have paid over N171 billion to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Briefing newsmen yesterday in Abuja, EFCC’s Spokesman, Femi Babafemi said the commission has recovered N59.23 billion from Intercontinental Bank’s debtors.

Babafemi gave a breakdown of the remaining figures as, “Bank PHB- N1,210,600,441.63, Afri bank- N33,385,166,949.20, Union Bank- N30,422,996,448.39, Oceanic Bank- N35,480,000,000, Spring Bank- N571,735,947.21 and Finbank- N10,745,170,462.34 totalling N171,045,670,248.”

CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido had sacked the helmsmen of some of the banks over massive non-performing loans which contributed to liquidity problems in the affected banks.

Lamido then injected N600 billion fresh funds into the banks to save them from collapse and called EFCC to pursue their debtors.

EFCC summons 55 bank debtors today, – 800 firms, individuals owe banks N1.5trn, – FG, CBN disagree over troubled banks – Tribune

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has summoned debtors of non-performing loans to the five banks that recently failed the stress test of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Commission’s spokesperson, Mr. Femi Babafemi, told the Nigerian Tribune, on Sunday, that recovery exercise begins today.

It was gathered from sources within the commission that 55 of the debtors are billed to appear before the commission’s team working on the case in Lagos this morning. Commission’s chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, is leading 80 operatives on the recovery exercise.

According to the list released by the apex bank, debtors to the five banks are owing non-performing loans of N451.6 billion. Debtors to the five banks that failed the apex bank’s initial stress test had a total of N737.6 billion credited to them as non-performing loans by the apex bank.

The banks that failed the initial stress test included Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, FinBank, AfriBank and Union Bank, while the last five are Bank PHB, Spring Bank, Unity Bank, Equitorial Trust Bank and Wema Bank.

N451.6BN BANK DEBTS: EFCC moves against Kola Abiola, Marwa, Otedola, Vaswani, others – As Waziri storms Lagos with 80 operatives – 10 banks owed N1trn non-performing loan – Tribune

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, on Thursday, stormed Lagos with 80 operatives, who are to go after the sacked management teams of three of the five banks that failed the recent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stress test and the debtors to all the five banks.

Waziri, according to the commission’s spokesperson, Mr. Femi Babafemi, is leading the operation which would be a replica of the one launched against the sacked bank chiefs and debtors to the five banks that had their leadership sacked by the apex bank in the first round of audit conducted in the sector.

The first five banks are Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, FinBank, Afribank and Union Bank, while the last five include Bank PHB, Spring Bank, Unity Bank, Equatorial Trust Bank and Wema Bank.

Only Wema and Unity Banks’ management teams were spared. At about 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, Nigerian Tribune gathered that Waziri was still holding the final meeting with the operatives before unleashing them on the sacked bank chiefs and the high-profile Nigerians that owe non-performing loans to the last five troubled banks.

Ex-bank chiefs tender list of foreign accounts – The Nation

Fourteen former bank executives and directors on trial have submitted details of their foreign accounts to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But the agency is still hunting for some secret and proxy accounts of the suspects.

Besides, it has returned over N46billion recovered from debtors to the five banks whose former helmsmen are on trial.

The accused are the former managing directors/chief executive officers of Union Bank, FinBank, Oceanic Bank International Plc and Afribank – Bartholomew Ebong, Okey Nwosu, Cecilia Ibru, and Sebastian Adigwe.

Others are: Peter Ololo (former MD of Falcon Securities Limited); Niyi Opeodu (ex-MD, Union Capital Market Limited); Henry Onyemem; Raymond Obieri; Hyacinth Enuha; Adebayo Alabi; Samuel Adegbite; Isyaku Umar; Bayo Dada; and Sanni Adams.

All the accused have been given forms to provide details of their local and foreign accounts.

Farida meets new bank CEOs, compiles new list of debtors – Daily Trust

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to go after another set of debtors who owe the five bailed out banks.

Chairman of EFCC Mrs. Farida Waziri met with newly appointed chief executive officers of Union Bank, Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Finbank and Afribank at the commission’s office in Ikoyi, Lagos yesterday to prepare a final list of defaulters.

Mrs. Waziri met with the CEOs to allow them make inputs in the second list, Daily Trust learnt yesterday. Earlier, the EFCC boss held a long meeting with operatives who had been coordinating the debt recovery in the banks and trailing the bank chiefs. Fielding questions from journalists, Mrs. Waziri said all defaulters would have themselves to blame when operatives begin their arrest on Wednesday.  She promised to make available, the total figure of monies paid so far by the debtors as soon as necessary reconciliations were completed.

No Northern Agenda On Sack Of Bank MDs – Yar’Adua – Daily Independent

It is not true, Aso Rock argued vehemently on Monday, that the sack of five bank Managing Directors (MDs) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is a Northern agenda to weaken the stronghold of Southerners in the financial sector.

President Umaru Yar’Adua is in Saudi Arabia for a medical check up and for the lesser Hajj, also called Umrah; and is expected back today, his Spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi, told reporters in Abuja.

And, in the mean time, Adeniyi described reports of mischief as laughable, and said the CBN would not have bailed out the five troubled banks (Oceanic, Intercontinental, Afribank, Finbank, and Union) with N400 billion or replaced the MDs with Southerners if a Northern plot was in the mix.

“When people don’t want to address the real issues in Nigeria, they resort to cheap talk about some Northern or Southern agenda. Are you saying that these bankers were distributing their money with Southerners?” he wondered.

CBN Begins Fresh Audit Of Banks – Daily Independent

Anxiety still runs deep in the financial sector, as a fresh audit of the 24 banks begins on Tuesday, which may culminate in more sacks besides the five Managing Directors (MDs) who lost their jobs in the cleansing done by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on August 14.

Investigation showed that the CBN began last week another examination of the books of the five troubled banks – Intercontinental, Afribank, Finbank, Oceanic, and Union – to garner more evidence against the sacked MDs.

But sources in the banks countered that the examination should have been done before the hammer was applied to bring the MDs and bank debtors under public scrutiny.

The new audit will be on domestic and international operations, including credit lines; and the passports of officers in key departments have reportedly been seized to prevent them from travelling out of the country.

Sanusi: I prefer sale of five troubled banks – The Nation

A rescue operation is on the way for the five troubled banks. The move includes selling them to stronger institutions, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said yesterday.

Sanusi, who spoke at a meeting of central bankers in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said: “I would rather have those banks valued properly and purchased by other banks.”

He added: “Then in the event of there being some resolution costs, finding a way of taking those costs and writing it over a long term, which would probably mean issuing some kind of bond over a 10- or 15-year period with National Assembly approval.”

It was not certain last night how the sector will receive Sanusi’s proposal.

But analysts argued that the suggestion may not go down well with bankers since the banks have not been declared insolvent.

The banks are: Oceanic International, Intercontinental, Finbank, Afribank and Union.

Wanted sacked bank chief flees abroad – Daily Trust

One of the sacked chief executives of the five bailed-out banks has fled abroad, in spite of earlier claims by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that there was no escape route for the ousted bank chiefs.

“Well, one is outside the country and the others are with us…but they are speculating that one escaped abroad,” EFCC chairman Farida Waziri told newsmen in Lagos yesterday when asked how many sacked bank chiefs were arrested so far.

She did not name the fleeing former executive, but an EFCC official who did not want to be named said former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Erastus Akingbola has escaped abroad.

Another source in Lagos said Akingbola fled to the United Kingdom on Monday, three days after his sack and a day before the EFCC grabbed his counterparts in Finbank, Union Bank and Afribank.

EFCC to debtors: Repay or go to jail – Daily Trust

Debtors of the five ailing banks have six days from today to organize repayments or risk arrest, prosecution and seizure of their assets, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said yesterday.

“We already have the list of the five banks’ debtors with us in EFCC and they have just one week to bring in their cheques or drafts to us or we begin their arrest and prosecution as well as confiscation of their assets,” EFCC chairman Farida Waziri told newsmen in Lagos yesterday.

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday published the names of over 200 people and organisations owing Oceanic, Finbank, Intercontinental, Union and Afribank over N746 billion non-performing loans. On the list were companies belonging to top operators of the nation’s stock market and the oil industry, bankers, government agencies as well as well-connected billionaire businessmen.

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