Alleged fraud: Witness tells court how Emefiele transferred funds to his wife

A prosecution witness, Mrs Ifeoma Ogbonnaya, on Tuesday, told the Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja, how former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, transferred funds to his wife, Margaret.

Ogbonnaya, an Assistant Manager at Zenith Bank Plc, stated this at a follow-up hearing in Emefiele’s trial for alleged fraud of $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion while in office.

Testifying by the Counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), the witness said the former CBN governor used Zenith Bank to transfer millions of naira in installments to his wife through various companies.

He listed the companies receiving the cash flows as Amswing Resources and Solution, Limelight Dimensional Service Limited, Omec Support Service Limited, and Mango Farm.

He said: “Limelight manages the CBN facility located in Alakija and all electricity related transactions and repairs of things that are not working are always done by the vendor.”

Ogbonnaya said he never had direct contact with the former CBN governor but received instructions from his wife to transfer cash from CBN to their private companies through a Zenith Bank account.

He said apart from Emefiele’s wife, he also received instructions from two other persons, one Mr. John Ogah and one Mr. Opeyemi Oludimu, who worked for Emefiele but is now deceased.

The witness said he managed various company accounts that transferred millions of naira to beneficiaries.

“Mrs Margaret Emefiele, wife of the former CBN governor, is a direct beneficiary of the account.

“The companies sent transfer instructions to my email and Margaret is the beneficial owner of the accounts.

“All transactions made on the account are confirmed by Ms Emefiele before being processed.

“He sent transfer instructions directly to my official email address at Zenith Bank or sent two other people to act on his behalf, but I still received approval from him,” he said.

Justice Rahman Oshodi adjourned the case until July 10 for further hearing.

Alleged fraud: Witness tells court how Emefiele transferred funds to wife appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.