A primary school teacher in Anambra State, Mrs. Roseline Uche Egbuha, was on Friday, June 19, arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) after N550 million said to have been sent by her son was discovered in her Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) account.
Also arrested by the commission were three staff of the bank: the compliance officer of GTB, Beckley Ojo; an Operations Manager, Chisomaga Daly-Okoro, a staff of the legal department, Sarah Ugamah and a lawyer to GTB in Anambra State, Nsikak Udoh. They were said to have helped the teacher to keep the money for her.
According to a statement by the ICPC in its official twitter handle, Mrs. Egbuha, a teacher with Ozala Primary School, Abagana, Anambra State, was earlier arrested in 2019 by ICPC and granted bail.
She got the bail an investigation into her financial transactions consequent upon the receipt of a petition had shown her alleged involvement in money laundering.
The ICPC, in a series of investigation, found that the school teacher had N539.5 million in her Guaranty Trust Bank account. The money was alleged to have been proceeds of money laundering from Malaysia which had yielded interest and the total amount later became N550 million.
It was gathered that she told officials of the commission during interrogation that the money found in her account belonged to her 24-year-old son, Chidozie Fabian Ejeaka, whose whereabouts could not be established.
A Post No Debit (PND) was placed on the account to allow the commission to carry out further investigation, while a case of forfeiture of the suspected proceeds of crime was instituted against her in a court of law.
The commission said her arrest with the staff of GTB and the lawyer was due to their connivance in lifting the restriction placed on her account and the subsequent transfer of N550 million (principal sum and interest) into the GTB account.
The ICPC found out that the money was transferred on 4th June, 2020, the same day the court order was obtained. The commission also found out that the N550 million was promptly split and moved into multiple bank accounts owned by Bureau de Change operators and private individuals.
It said N340 million of the money was moved in two instalments of N200 million and N140 million into the Polaris bank account of a Bureau de Change operator. The commission said investigation is ongoing and appropriate actions will be taken upon conclusion.
1 comment
Wow. These people acted smart splitting the money into bits. But not smart enough tho. They should face the law.