The $6.2 million CBN fraud case has taken a new turn as investigations linked Emefiele’s aide, Odo Ocheme to the case.
This was disclosed in a document filed along with the charges at a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday which provided insight into how the $6,230,000 was allegedly stolen on 8 February 2023 and shared.
A special presidential investigative team led by Jim Obaze which probed Godwin Emefiele’s tenure as CBN Governor pointed out the involvement of his personal assistant, Ocheme in the alleged fraud.
The document revealed that Ocheme allegedly received $3,730,000 out of the $6.23million stolen while the remaining $2,500,000 was shared by others.
The investigators claimed that the money was collected under the guise of paying foreign election observers, alleging that theft was an insider job by mainly CBN officials in collaboration with the connivance of the two Abubakars who were non-staff members of the Apex bank.
Meanwhile, a police prosecutor, Celestine Odo recalled during the sitting that the court issued an arrest warrant on Ocheme, Adamu Abubakar, and Imam Abubakar on 7 February.
Odo noted that the trio are currently residing in the United Kingdom and the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has been notified.
Additionally, he explained that the suspects could not be brought before the court as their arrests had not been made.
The police prosecutor further requested for an adjournment to enable the INTERPOL to explore available options for their arrest.
However, Justice Inyang Ekwo who was uncomfortable with the explanation, adjourned till 3 November for the arraignment of the defendants. He also threatened to strike out the case on the next adjourned date should Odo repeat the excuse.
