How Emefiele acquired three banks via proxies and almost for free

By Editor

The investigator stated in his report to the president that, “When carrying out our investigation, we discovered that some persons were used as proxies by Mr Godwin Emefiele to set up Titan Trust Bank and acquire Union Bank, all from ill-gotten wealth. We were able to secure some documents, and investigation reports will lead to the forfeiture of the two banks by the federal government.

“We have completed our investigation on this acquisition and have also held meetings with relevant parties except for Mr Cornelius Vink (currently hospitalised in Switzerland). We are on the verge of recovering these two banks for the federal government,” the document showed.

Acquisition of Keystone Bank

In another finding titled, “Report of the Investigation of the Acquisition of Keystone Bank,” submitted by the special investigator to President Tinubu, it was stated that after due diligence, it was discovered that some persons were used as proxies with the connivance and assistance of Emefiele and the CBN to acquire the bank without evidence of payment.

It stated, “AMCON MD moved N20billion to Heritage Bank as placement sometime in 2010. On the back of that, Heritage Bank granted a loan of N25billion to the promoters of Isa Funtua/Emefiele group’s acquisition vehicles to buy Keystone Bank.

“The loan was further backed by the shareholders of the bank. Upon acquisition, Keystone Bank returned the N20bn back to Heritage Bank as placement. Thereafter, Heritage Bank repaid AMCON from the cash flow created.

“When the loan granted by Heritage Bank to Isa Funtua/Emefiele’s acquisition vehicles matured with outstanding balance, the MD of Heritage Bank (which was then in serious liquidity crisis), called for repayment. Unfortunately for the shareholders of the bank, the Isa Funtua/Emefiele Group could not repay.

“Consequently, the MD of Heritage got his lawyers to write to the bank on two occasions, threatening to take over Keystone Bank based on the shares they had pledged as security.

“After much pressure from him, Keystone Bank created internal loans of about N50bn between June and October 2019 and moved the proceeds to repay Heritage Bank on behalf of their group. However, the MD of the bank at that time had resigned due to consistent pressure from him and the shareholders to comply. The internal loans so created are not being serviced and have gone bad.