- N165m missing – EFCC
About six months after the Chairman, Resort Savings and Loans Limited, Senator Sunday Fajinmi, invited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the former management of the firm over allegations of fraud, some depositors have passed votes of no confidence on the new management of the company, investigations have revealed.
The depositors alleged that the new management, which promised to refund their deposits within two months after take over, had abandoned them, adding that the new management equally lacked good corporate governance.
Findings by The Point revealed that both staff and depositors had not been paid either their salaries or deposits made to the bank before the initial fraud bubble busted. They alleged that the new management was towing the line of its predecessor, in different type of fraudulent activities, like diversion of company fund by top board members and poor internal control, among others.
The victims of the primary mortgage bank’s fraudulent acts, depositors, members of staff and former members of staff, said that they had lost confidence in the PMB and its management, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the EFCC, which they said had been silent over their case.
They threatened that they were battle ready to take their fate in their hands and approach the courts for justice. For instance, one of the depositors, Alhaja Abibat Olorunsogo, regretted that six months after the new management took over the company, Resort had yet to refund their life savings.
When the internal auditors reportedly traced about N100 million the perpetrators had used to buy foreign exchange, we discovered another N65 million fraud. In total, we have found about N165 million that is missing
The cloth merchant in Tejuosho market could not understand why it should take the mortgage bank such a long time to make the refund, adding that, after all, it was not that difficult for the company to send marketers out to source for deposits.
“I believe the regulators have not done enough, because about N700,000 of my life savings is still hanging in the balance in the bank, and nobody has bothered to give me an update. Some of us had formed a group and we are ready to take legal actions against the new management,” she disclosed.
Another depositor, Mr. Timothy Mutum, who is also a telephone merchant in Computer Village, Ikeja, told The Point that he and some of his friends, who were also depositors in the company, had outlined their plans, which they were not ready to disclose till the PMB failed to respond to the letter they sent to its headquarters by the end of first week in March.
He said, “Resort promised to refund our N2.5 million, but it failed, and we had to borrow money from another source to do business, which we had to pay back with extra N450,000 as interest. That is a loss to us, because our initial intention was to invest the money in the business.
“I heard some top management staff of the bank had told the CBN and the Consumer Protection Council that they had settled all depositors. Also, we heard that some of the retired executives were paid their severance packages shortly after they left the firm. “That is the reason we have outlined our actions and when we start, we expect them to come and defend their propaganda. We won’t disclose our plans now, because they might plan a counter action.”
PAY OUR SALARIES – STAFF
The allegation of fraud leveled against the new management by some depositors was confirmed by some of the company’s existing and former staff. A former staff of the bank, who was recently asked to resign, said, “I got a message and email from the bank in December that half of my outstanding salaries of eight months, over N850,000, would be paid to my account two weeks later, but I was shocked when I went to the bank last week and was told that there was no money in the account.
It is frustrating, because I have not found another job or money to do petty business. “That is the situation I find myself now. I had made efforts to borrow funds from friends and relatives but the recession made that fruitless.”
A member of staff of the PMB, who prefers anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, alleged that some directors, managers and information technology staff did commit fraud by diverting depositors’ funds for personal use. He claimed that, at times, when some marketers collected deposits from customers, the funds were usually diverted by the directors.
According to him, this act is an old practice in the bank, because the immediate past management actually started it. He said, “It is not that we don’t have money to settle depositors and more than half of the staff, but most of the time, when the decision had been taken at the board meeting, some faction of the board would disagree a few days after the meeting.
“Some members of the ‘cabals’ are still owing the company about N10 million each, as they have collected loans that had become bad loans and nobody can report them to the EFCC. Even, if the case is reported to the EFCC, they have a way of working round the issue and coming out clean.
For instance, when depositors complained about the former deputy MD, Mr. Olayemi Rabiu, after the EFCC intervention, he was made the new MD.”
INVESTIGATION ONGOING – EFCC
However, THE EFCC told The Point that the commission was still investigating the fraud allegations leveled against the old and new management of Resort Savings and Loans, adding that an external auditor was carrying out a forensic audit to determine details of fraud allegedly perpetrated by the management of the company.
The spokesperson of the antigraft agency, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed that the new management disclosed a massive financial mismanagement to the tune of N165 million.
According to him, the matter is being investigated by the EFCC as it is carrying out further investigations in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. He said, “We are studying all the evidences they have given us.
Fortunately, these evidences were not discovered in a day, they kept revealing themselves. “When the internal auditors reportedly traced about N100 million the perpetrators had used to buy foreign exchange, we discovered another N65 million fraud. In total, we have found about N165 million that is missing.”
However, efforts to get the reaction of the new Managing Director, Rabiu, were abortive, as the new MD, who is at the centre of the allegations, failed to respond to calls made and messages sent to his mobile phone by The Point.
