MD fidelity Bank aressted by EfCC of $133m fraud

According to Punch newspaper, EFCC has
arrested the MD and CEO of Fidelity Bank
Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo,
and some
officials for allegedly receiving $115m from
a former Minister of Petroleum Resources,
Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The EFCC also arrested the bank’s Head
of Operations, Mr. Martins Izuogbe, for his
role in the alleged scam, which the anti-
graft agency described as unprecedented.
Reportedly, during the build-up to the 2015
presidential election, Diezani invited
Okonkwo to help her handle some cash,
which would be disbursed to electoral
officials and groups.
The fraud was uncovered when the EFCC
began investigations into how officials of
INEC in Rivers, Delta and Akwa Ibom
states received N675.1m, as funds
disbursed were traced to Fidelity Bank.
Punch source said: “We invited the MD,
who then confessed to us that during the
build-up to the presidential election,
Diezani invited him to a meeting in Abuja.

Diezani told him that some companies
would deposit some funds in his bank and
that she would give him further
instructions on how the funds would be
disbursed. The first company, Auctus
Integrated, deposited $17m into the bank.
The 2nd company, Northern Belt Gas
Company, deposited $60m while another
company, Midwestern Oil and Gas,
deposited $9.5m.
A 4th company, Leno Laitan Adesanya,
deposited $1.85m while the MD himself
received $26m in cash.” The source
alleged that Diezani’s son, Ugonna
Madueke, later served as a middleman
between the former minister and the MD
of the bank.
He said it was Diezani’s son who
forwarded the names of the beneficiaries
of the funds, which included INEC officials
and several interest groups as well as
election monitors, who were expected to
compromise the electoral process. The
total amount of money was $115m and
Diezani told the bank to convert the funds
into naira, which was about N23.3bn at the
time.
The source stated that Diezani did not
operate any account with the bank and
wondered why Okonkwo would allow
himself to be used in such a manner.
Okonkwo may be charged with conspiracy
once we are done with investigations.