CBN Visits Fidelity Bank Over $115m Scam

Officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Compliance Unit on Tuesday stormed the headquarters of Fidelity Bank Plc in Lagos in connection with the ongoing investigations into the $115m (N23bn) scam involving the Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, and the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, Punch reported.

A top executive of the bank confided in our correspondent that the CBN officials visited the bank’s headquarters as part of investigations into the deal.

This, according to the source, will further help both the apex bank and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the ongoing investigations.

It was gathered that the visit by the compliance unit of the apex bank to Fidelity Bank was to compare transaction documents with the presentation made by the committee.

These, it was learnt, would be compared with the statement made to the EFCC by the embattled managing director.

When contacted, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, promised to find out about the visit and get back to our correspondent.

Calls and text messages sent to his mobile phone almost an hour later were not replied as of the time of going to press.

The Board of Directors of the bank had on Monday announced the appointment of the Executive Director, North, Alhaji Mohammed Balarabe, as the Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive of Fidelity Bank with immediate effect subject to regulatory approval.

During the build-up to the 2015 presidential election, Alison-Madueke allegedly invited Okonkwo to help her handle some cash, which would be disbursed to electoral officials and groups.

Meanwhile, shares of Fidelity Bank fell by almost eight per cent to a two-month low of N1.08 on Tuesday, the first day of trading this week