The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of three financial institutions including Providus Bank and Jaiz Bank have been quizzed by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to The Punch, they were taken into EFCC custody on Tuesday night, following the suspension of Betty Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.
The bank chiefs were interrogated in connection to an alleged fraud uncovered in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, running into over N44 billion.
It was gathered that the senior bank executives were quizzed by EFCC interrogators at the commission’s headquarters, Jabi, Abuja.
Confirming the probe of the senior bank executives, an EFCC source revealed that they were being questioned over the ₦44.5bn fraud uncovered in the ministry involving Edu and Halima Shehu, the embattled Co-ordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency domiciled in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
The Punch quoted a top source at the EFCC who noted that the investigation by the anti-graft agency encompasses all activities in the ministry.
Recall that Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Farouq, was also queried by EFCC interrogators on Monday, over allegations that she laundered N37.1 billion while serving as a Minister in former President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet.
Also, Shehu was earlier arrested in connection with an alleged ₦44 billion money laundering and had been mandated to report to the EFCC every day following her release last Wednesday.
The NSIPA Coordinator was arrested and taken into EFCC custody Tuesday night following her suspension.
It was learnt that the ₦44 billion was suspiciously moved from NSIPA’s accounts into private and corporate accounts linked to persons serving as fronts.
Confirming her release from EFCC custody in a telephone interview on Thursday, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale said Shehu has been mandated to meet with EFCC interrogators every day as the investigation continues.
Oyewale said, “Halima Shehu has been released, but she is still answering to our interrogators, and she has been mandated to meet with investigators every day as the investigation is ongoing.
“Concerning reports on the ₦44 billion and ₦30 billion making the rounds, the commission is still tracing all the suspicious transactions, her agency was under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs too.
“There’s a lot of money involved because the Ministry and agencies are focused on interventions. Hence, we can’t put a figure to all of the transactions now because the commission is still tracing the transactions.”
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