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Tag: Bankers Warehouse

  • EFCC moves for interim forfeiture of Bankers Warehouse’s $2.8m

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a motion at the Federal High Court in Enugu for the interim forfeiture of $2.8million seized last week .

    Acting Spokesperson of the commission, Mr Tony Orilade said the commission has  also filed  an affidavit of urgency for the matter to be heard on Dec. 27 by a vacation Judge  in Port Harcourt.

    The commission  on Thursday arrested two persons at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, carrying the money in two suitcases.

    The men were  Ighoh Augustine and Ezekwe Emmanuel.

    According to the EFCC, the suspects, who said they work for a company called Bankers Warehouse,   confessed during interrogation that they had been in the business of moving cash for “some notable banks” for over six years.

    “At the time of filing this report, the alleged owner of the money, the bank had not made any physical presence in any of the commission’s offices, including the Enugu office, to establish their claim.”

    Orilade further said that efforts were being made to secure warrant for the detention of the suspects pending when they would be charged to court.

    He explained that the warrant was consequent upon the refusal of the bank or any of the relatives to come for the release of the suspects.

    Bankers Warehouse in a statement at the weekend claimed ownership of the money and asked the EFCC to apologise and return the money.

    The company which said it is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to carry out Cash/Asset movement and Currency Processing said the men arrested were not involved in any money laundering and were carrying out a legitimate movement of cash.

    Read also: Bankers Warehouse urges EFCC to release detained $2.8m cash, employees

    “We hereby state emphatically that the movement of this currency was a legitimate exercise, being carried out on behalf of a legitimate Financial Institution,” the company said..

    “We emphasise that our employees are in no way criminals, carrying out any act of illegality as the EFCC has tried to portray. The young men whose character and reputation have been deliberately soiled by the EFCC operatives were conducting their legitimate duties as requested by a bank customer of our company.

    “We request for the swift and immediate release of our employees and our customer’s currency, both detained without proper cause.

    “We also demand an immediate retraction by the EFCC and an apology issued to our company and our employees whose images have been maligned”.

    In another development, the Nigerian Navy has handed over four persons and a vessel allegedly involved in illegal oil bunkering to operatives of EFCC, Benin Zonal Office.

    The suspects, Promise Onate, Emonefe Stanley, Samson Obaje and Peresey Friday were onboard the vessel, MV Enterprise, when they were rounded up by men of the Nigerian Navy, NNS Delta on Dec. 4 at Nana Creek Escravos, Delta State.

    They were arrested on the suspicion that they were conveying Automotive Gas Oil, (AGO) without any valid approval.

    Captain Yilme, who represented the NNS Commander at the handing over in Warri, Delta State, said, “after forensic analysis of the product by officials of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the result revealed that the product onboard were poorly refined AGO”.

    While receiving the suspects and the vessel, Richard Ogberagha, an EFCC operative, said the commission would carry out further investigation and ensure that those found culpable were brought to book.(NAN)

  • Bankers Warehouse urges EFCC to release detained $2.8m cash, employees

    THE management of Bankers Warehouse yesterday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to release the $2.8 million cash and its employees arrested at Enugu Airport last Thursday.

    Bankers Warehouse is a company registered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to carry out cash movement as well as currency processing.

    In a statement titled: “Interception of $2.8 million at Enugu Airport by EFCC”, the company said the cash was seized and its employees were arrested while carrying out legitimate business of cash movement for one of its banker clients.

    It said the employees were arrested, interrogated and detained at Enugu Airport by the EFCC while carrying out cash movement of its clients from its Onitsha branch to Lagos in spite of providing identification details.

    The statement read: “We hereby state emphatically that the movement of this currency was a legitimate exercise, being carried out on behalf of a legitimate financial institution. We emphasise that our employees are in no way criminals, carrying out any act of illegality as the EFCC has tried to portray. The young men whose character and reputation have been deliberately soiled by the EFCC operatives were conducting their legitimate duties as requested by a bank customer of our company.

    “We request for the swift and immediate release of our employees and our customer’s currency, both detained without proper cause. We also demand an immediate retraction by the EFCC and an apology issued to our company and our employees, whose images have been maligned. Our client, who has been unfairly exposed and accused of implied illegality, and whose money is still being improperly held by the EFCC operatives, deserve a very special apology for the disclosure of their business and damage done to their image.”

  • Bankers Warehouse  calls on EFCC to release detained $2.8m cash, employees

    The management of Bankers Warehouse today called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to release the $2.8 million cash and its employees arrested at Enugu Airport on  Thursday December 20.

    Bankers Warehouse is a company registered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to carry out cash movement as well as currency processing.
    In a statement titled: Interception of $2.8 million at Enugu Airport by EFCC, the company said the cash were seized while its employees were arrested while carrying out legitimate business of cash movement for one of its banker clients.
    It said the employees were arrested, interrogated and detained at Enugu Airport by the EFCC while carrying out cash movement of its clients from its Onitsha branch to Lagos in spite of providing identification details.
    The statement read: “On Thursday evening, December 20, 2018, while providing a legitimate Currency movement service for one of our Bank clients from their branch at Onitsha to their branch at Lagos, our Couriers were stopped at the Enugu airport, detained and interrogated by agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), despite providing their identification details. The documents provided also included a covering note from the bank, authorizing the team to move the consignment; which is the standard practice”.
    “We hereby state emphatically that the movement of this currency was a legitimate exercise, being carried out on behalf of a legitimate Financial Institution. We emphasize that our employees are in no way criminals, carrying out any act of illegality as the EFCC has tried to portray. The young men whose character and reputation have been deliberately soiled by the EFCC operatives were conducting their legitimate duties as requested by a bank customer of our company,” the statement said.
    “We request for the swift and immediate release of our employees and our customer’s currency, both detained without proper cause. We also demand an immediate retraction by the EFCC and an apology issued to our company and our employees whose images have been maligned. Our client who has been unfairly exposed and accused of implied illegality, and whose money is still being improperly held by the EFCC operatives, deserve a very special apology for the disclosure of their business and damage done to their image,” it said.

  • Union Bank reacts to EFCC $2.8M confiscated at Enugu Airport

    The Management of Union Bank has reacted to the arrest of two men by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Enugu Airport.

    The EFCC had on Friday paraded two men, alleged by the commission to be fraudsters caught with $2. 8 million.

    The bank in a series of tweets posted on its official twitter handle said the operation was licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    “Movement of cash across states is routine for all banks. Bankers Warehouse is licensed by CBN to provide Cash-in-Transit services” the bank said.

    “We are surprised by the release of a news bulletin prior to the completion of @officialefcc investigation. This is a legitimate and routine operation consistent with banking”.

    Also, Bankers Warehouse, a company licensed by CBN to carry out both Cash Management (CM) and Cash-In-Transit (C-I-T) in a letter to the bank regulator said it was on a legitimate business.

    Bankers warehouse head operations, Lawrence Ijebor, said EFCC still detained it employees despite providing identification.

    The letter reads, “When questioned, they presented their identity cards identifying themselves as bankers warehouse employees on official CIT movementaand also provided the letter of authority provided by the bank covering that movement”.

    “Despite the information provided, the EFCC insisted on detaining our employees, taking possession of our goods and threatening to confiscate the currency, without making themselves available to our senior managers or other agencies familiar with our movements”.“

    We seek your intervention as our regulator, to address this issue of constant harassment of our staff, by security agencies.”