In this retro series, Gaposaolofofo.com.ng bring to you the story of
Emmanuel Nwude who committed the largest fraud in the country by selling
a non-existent airport to a Brazilian for $242 million between 1995 and
1998.
The rise of internet popularise internet fraud commonly known as 419
and Nigeria has come to be associated with it. Before the internet fraud
became a global issue, Nwude had committed one of the biggest scam in
the world. Specifically, his fraud was the third largest banking scam in
the world after the Nick Leeson’s trading losses at Barings Bank, and
the looting of the Iraqi Central Bank by Qusay Hussein.
How was Nwude able to carry out this jaw-dropping scam and convince
Nelson Sakaguchi who was the director of the bank to part with so much
money for the purchase of an airport?
Nwude was a former director of Union Bank of Nigeria and this
position made him privy to some links, information and documents that
other persons would not be aware of. He impersonated the then governor
of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Paul Ogwuma, and connected with
Sakaguchi informing him of a mouth-watering deal of Nigeria’s plan to
build an airport in Abuja.
Nwude, pretending to be the CBN governor, told Sakaguchi that he
stood of chance of pocketing $10 million commission when the deal passed
through. Sakaguchi paid $191 million in cash and the remainder in the
form of outstanding interest.
Nwude’s accomplices were Emmanuel Ofolue, Nzeribe Okoli, and Obum
Osakwe, along with the husband and wife duo, Christian Ikechukwu
Anajemba and Amaka Anajemba, with Christian later being assassinated.
The criminal gang was able to convince the director of the Brazilian bank to part with the money.
How did Sakaguchi find out he was a victim of one of the largest scam in the world?
In 1997, the Spanish Banco Santander wanted to take over the Banco
Noroeste and a joint board meeting was held in December of that year.
Officials of the Spanish bank noted that half of the Brazilian bank’s
capital was at Cayman Islands unmonitored. This raised questions as this
was two-fifths of Noroeste’s total value.
Investigation began and was carried out in Brazil, Britain, Nigeria,
Switzerland, and the United States. Although the sale of the Bank still
went on as the owners of the bank paid $242 million bill, the nak still
collapsed in 2001.
The birth of the EFCC
In 2002, the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo saw to the
establishment of an anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC). Nwude’s fraud case one of the first to be
investigated and in 2004, all members of the gang were arraigned before
an Abuja High Court on 86 counts of “fraudulently seeking advance fees”
and 15 counts of bribery related to the case .
Although they pleaded not
guilty, they were warned not to attempt to bribe court officials as it
was suspected that money was going round.
In 2005, Amaka confessed to helping Anajemba and was asked to repay
$25.5 million and also sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Nwude attempted to bribe Nuhu Ribadu, the then chairman of the EFCC,
with $75,000 cash but the latter refused and Nwude was charged with
attempted bribery as well as attempt to kidnap a prosecuting witness.
Following Sakaguchi witness, Nwude finally pleaded guilty and was
sentenced to five concurrent sentences of five years and was also asked
to pay $10 million fine to the federal government.
He was released from prison in 2006 and filed a case to reclaim his
assets insisting some of them were acquired before the criminal act. He
has so far been able to reclaim $167 million.
Aftermath
A land dispute in the town of Ukpo in the Dunukofia area with Abagana
community turned bloody when over 200 men invaded the community killing
four policemen and the security guard at the construction site in 2016.
The Anambra state government fingered Nwude as the ringleader and he
was subsequently arrested and arraigned on 27 charges including murder
and terrorism. He is being held at Awka prison as the court case is
still on.
While Nwude’s criminal exploit was not the first in the country, it
signified the rise in international financial crime and popularise the
advanced fee fraud syndrome with Nigeria’s name associated with it.
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Saturday, April 22, 2017
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[Gaposa Gossip]: Meet The Biggest Nigerian Fraudster In History Who “Sold A Fake Airport” To A Brazilian For $242M (Photos)
[Gaposa Gossip]: Meet The Biggest Nigerian Fraudster In History Who “Sold A Fake Airport” To A Brazilian For $242M (Photos)
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