By Uzoma Akobundu
The United Bank for Africa (UBA) may have put its reputation in the harm’s way following a compromised share business deal where the bank’s branch manager and an account officer allegedly conspired with a dubious customer who used the name of a staff of another prominent bank to secure a loan from UBA with ease.
The thinking within the banking sector regulatory organs and the security agencies is that UBA was lax over due diligence issues that are expedient for a customer who wants to open an account or the one who intends to get a facility from a bank.
Armadanews.com gathered that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), are considering the most appropriate sanction to mete to UBA that will serve as a lesson to others in the banking sector. Some officials of both the CBN and NSE in the know of the case frowned on it and are not happy the way UBA has shielded its staff involved in the matter.
The case was reported to the agencies for their intervention.
The banks and shares regulatory organs are believed to be acting on poor security reports from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as that from the Force Criminal and Investigation Department (FCID) of the police, all of which were petitioned by one Louis Emefu Ibe, whose name was dubiously used by one Tony Ebubedike to secure a loan from UBA with express approval from its branch manager.
Trouble started when UBA approved a facility totaling N11.7 million to Ebubedike, a staff of Standard Alliance Life who had used the names of his wife, Chika Ebubedike, Ejikanma Nwakilu and criminally added Louis Emefu Ibe, his former colleague, to enable him secure the loan and buy shares. This transaction was carried out in 2009 without Ibe’s knowledge until 2016.
Ebubedike had defaulted on payment, causing UBA to device means of getting him to repay what he had borrowed through consolidation of the names he allegedly connived with the Branch manager and account officer of UBA branch on Broad Street, Lagos to approve.
Desperate to recover its money, UBA had written Ibe over the indebtedness through the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) because of his name that was criminally used to perpetrate the fraud, a situation that jolted Ibe since he did not have any account with UBA and has never had any.
To get to the root of what could have happened, Ibe compelled the police to wade into the matter where operatives at the Special Fraud Unit of the FCID arrested Ebubedike, and invited UBA, and Ibe himself in the cause of investigation.
During the series of meeting with the police, Ebubedike confessed to the police that Ibe did not have a hand in the fraudulent transaction.
Convinced therefore that Ibe was innocent over the dubious transaction, UBA pledged to withdraw Ibe’s name from the list of debtors they had earlier sent to them to be tormented by their agents.
However, the police had advised UBA to give a letter of apology to Ibe absolving him of any wrong doing, as well as another letter to AMCON to enable the body strike Ibe’s name out of their books over indebtedness.
But contrary to the report given by the police, UBA refused to heed the advice.
Armadanews.com learnt that the thinking of UBA is that Ibe must be a small fry who does not have the capacity to compel the bank to do the needful.
UBA’s position is that at most Ibe would go to court where the bank will throw its weight behind the bar and bench and thwart justice.
Unfortunately, Ibe has been living with the stigma of a debtor because a move made by him to secure a loan from a bank to enable him arrange medical treatment for his widowed sister in India recently was turned down.
His sister not only died, but Ibe is still being tormented by AMCON through persistent invitations over a debt he did not incure.
When Amadanews.com contacted Ibe he said the case has been going on since 2009/2010 without his consent.
Ibe said: “I compelled UBA to bring in the Police. Series of meetings have held at Milverton, Police’s Special Fraud Unit between me, UBA and the Tony Ebubedike who the Police arrested, and brought forth.
“The Police succeeded to bring the principal suspect, Tony Ebubedike who confessed to the Police that Louis Ibe had no hand in the said transaction. UBA convinced, claims they have retrieved my name from AMCON whose agents have been chasing me all over Lagos.
“Police have asked UBA to give me a letter setting me free from any wrong doing, with a letter from AMCON to indeed confirm that my name has been removed from their list, but UBA has refused.”
Recalling the death of his sister, Ibe painfully said “the emotional damage, the psychological trauma, the embarrassment, my job under threat and the fact that I have since been refused all loans, did not pain me as much as the death of my widow elder sister, who eventually died, because FCMB refused me a loan I was to use to fly her to India for medical care, leaving all the children to my care, all on UBA’s account.”
Ibe said he heard it on good authority that the UBA will not give me the letters to prove his innocence, that the highest he could do is to go to Court.
He explained further: “What UBA has been doing is sharing adverts among Newspaper Houses to ensure they don’t publish any story on this matter, so that it could not embarrass the bank.
“I have personally reported this matter to the CBN Governor, Inspector General of Police, Director, Consumer Protection Council (CPC) as well as the Office of the CEO of AMCON.
“I have patiently given UBA the whole of this August and early September, before I do a formal petition to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and our representatives in the Senate and House of Representatives.
“In the last six months, I have painstakingly begun special savings to fund advertorials in the Newspapers on this matter, since UBA has shared adverts to stop stories on the issue.
“I have already briefed all my media friends …. as a prelude to my going to Court to drive my point home, and save myself from the embarrassment and UBA’s terror against me.
“I am also informed that UBA said that as far as I am a nobody, a no name, nothing will happen – a general discussion among UBA’s Legal, Recoveries and Corporate Communications, but I have God.
“I have been dragging this matter with UBA since June, 2016 and the matter has been on since 2009/2010 with my name freely mentioned in BusinessDay page 26, Monday, March 1, 2010 story on a crime, all without my knowledge until recently.”
Ibe said “all I have been asking for is just the letter so that there can be fairness, justice and equity on the matter.”
When Armadanews.com contacted the Head of Media and Corporate Communication of UBA, Ramon Nasir Olarenwaju he said “the bank has no issue with Ibe,” adding that “the matter is still under investigation by the police, and the police have the final decision on the matter.”
Another call was made to one Wey Adeyemi, a senior manager with UBA in the know of the issue and said he “was not obliged to talk on the matter.”
When the man at the centre of the scandal, Ebubedike was contacted by Armadanews.com he acknowledged that a transaction of such magnitude took place, and that he collected the driver’s licence of Ibe without informing him of what it was meant for.
Ebubedike said that he had already told the Police that Ibe does not have a hand in the transaction, and wonders why UBA is finding it difficult to apologise to him.
As far as he is concerned, he blamed the UBA for failing to do its due diligence of Know Your Customer (KYC), a situation that would have averted any wrongdoing from the unset.