Fidelity Bank Plc is under probe for aiding the disappearance of over N3 Billion SURE-P funds belonging to Jigawa Sate.
This is even as the leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, is expressing worry over constant involvement of commercial banks in aiding cases of money laundering.
Jigawa State Government had appointed Fidelity Bank to handle it SURE-P account.
Sources told Pointblanknews.com that officials of the Bank were discovered several wire transfers emanating from an Abuja branch of Fidelity Bank and traced to the accounts of the sons of Lamido and some of his cronies.
Security Operatives described the investigation as a “massive web of financial fraud” involving Governor Sule Lamido and his two sons.
The fund is meant for infrastructural and human capital development of the state under the SURE-P arrangement but the money it was learnt found their way into private accounts belonging to sons and cronies of the embattled governor.
When men of the SSS stormed the bank, in Abuja, according to a source, eight senior staff were arrested and detained at the SSS headquarters for about 10 days for aiding the fraudulent transfer of the N3 billion state funds into the accounts of the governor’s cronies.
Our correspondents gathered that the arrested bank officials on the instruction of the management of the bank refused to cooperate with the SSS but when it became obvious that they were going to face prosecution for refusal to cooperate with the detectives, the bank’s top management decided to meet with top officials of the SSS, in Abuja.
The source who spoke to our correspondents, on the condition of anonymity said “when the SSS refusal to release them after days of pressure from top politicians and businessmen in the country, the Managing Director of the Fidelity Bank, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi met with the Director General of the SSS Mr. Ita Epeyong, last week Wednesday and a compromise was reached that if the suspect make confessional statements, they would be released”.
“It was after that meeting that the arrested banker opened their mouths and told the SSS what they knew about the money and on whose instructions the over N3 billion of the state SURE-P money was transferred to the respective account numbers traceable to the sons and cronies of the governor,” the source said.
“Its sad the way people steal state funds. The SURE-P funds, which were paid into the accounts of Fidelity Bank, found their way in the private accounts owned and operated by the governor’s children. The bank actually supervised the distribution of the money. They are culpable and should be prosecuted,” the top security source added.
The SSS source disclosed that a searchlight would be beamed on other state governors particularly Adamawa, Niger, Kano, Sokoto and Kebbi as according to him “similar things are going on in these states and it is good to get to know the truth about what is the exact situation with the SURE-P fund because it is public money and not for the individual governors”.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) it was gathered is expressing great worries over the frequent cases of banks’ involvement in money laundering and financial crimes in the country and may begin to apply sanctions for erring banks.
“We have noted the involvement of banks in fraud cases especially money laundering and CBN is going to take the issues very seriously with banks found culpable,” a senior official of the apex bank who does not want to be named told pointblanknews.com.