ICPC arrests Primary School Teacher, Lawyer, GTB Officials over N550m Money Laundering
By Adekunle Badmus
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC has arrested a primary school teacher, Mrs. Roseline Uche Egbuha.
Roseline three was arrested alongside three staff of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and a lawyer for allegedly laundering N550 million.
Mrs. Egbuha, a teacher with Ozala Primary School, Abagana, Anambra State, was earlier arrested in 2019 by ICPC and granted bail, after an investigation into her financial transactions consequent upon the receipt of a petition, had shown her alleged involvement in money laundering.
Also in ICPC custody are a Compliance officer of GTB, Beckley Ojo, an Operations Manager, Chisomaga Daly-Okoro, a staff of the legal dept. of the bank, Sarah Ugamah and a lawyer to GTB Nsikak Udoh.
They were alleged to have connived with the school teacher to perpetrate the fraud.
ICPC, in a series of investigation, found that the school teacher had N539.5 million in her Guaranty Trust Bank account alleged to have been proceeds of money laundering from Malaysia.
She had told investigators during interrogation that the money found in her account belonged to her 24-year-old son, Chidozie Fabian Ejeaka, whose whereabouts could not be established.
A Post No Debit (PND) was placed on the account to allow the Commission to carry out further investigation, while a case of forfeiture of the suspected proceeds of crime was instituted against her in a court of law.
Her arrest with the staff of GTB and the lawyer was due to their connivance in lifting the restriction placed on her account and the subsequent transfer of N550m (principal sum and interest) into the GTB account of FBI Legal, a company owned by her lawyer, Ferdinand Isa.
ICPC found out that the money was transferred on 4th June, 2020, the same day the court order was obtained.
The lawyer claimed that the order vacating the restriction on the acctount was based on an out-of-court settlement with GTB which empowered his client to access her money.
