A 47-year-old Nigerian man Amos Paul Gabriel, involved in a scheme to swindle Citibank in New York City has been jailed and fined by a Singapore court for money laundering and other offences. See LIB reports on the Agulu born, Anambra businessman.

Gabriel, a Singapore permanent resident, was sentenced to three years' jail and fined $4,200 last Thursday, May 16.  He had also pleaded guilty to driving without a licence, and was handed a one-year driving ban.

The money laundering case made headlines in 2009 when Amos was indicted in New York on charges of scheming to steal from a National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) account at Citibank.

Amos and his co-conspirators had in 2008 sent fake signed documents to Citibank appearing to match signatures of officials at NBE, Ethiopia's central bank.

Citibank transferred US$27.2 million (S$37.2 million) to various accounts before the fraud was discovered.

Details of the elaborate scheme to launder the stolen money were heard at Singapore's State Courts.

Amos, who was married to a Singaporean woman, received a call from his Nigerian friend Robert Umohette in 2008, asking him to provide a bank account for the transfer of the cheated proceeds.

Instead of using the account of his own company, Amos discussed the matter with a friend in Australia named Mohammad Sohail, also known as Malik.

They agreed to use the bank account of Malik's company to receive the funds, on the condition that Amos received a cut of the cheated funds as commission, said Deputy Public Prosecutors Kelvin Kow and Shamini Joseph.

A total of US$27.2 million was transferred via Citibank from the corporate account of NBE to accounts in the US, Australia, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Korea as part of the broader money-laundering scheme.

Of this, US$1.8 million was transferred to Malik's account. Amos then got Malik to transfer US$669,509 into a bank account in Singapore on Robert's instruction.
He later acted on another of Robert's instructions and asked Malik to transfer money to a bank account in Hong Kong. Malik transferred A$623,467 (S$591,000).

Amos then told Robert that he would collect his commission in cash as he did not want the stolen funds to be traced to him. He later travelled to Hong Kong to collect his commission of US$300,000.

The US$669,509 that was laundered into Singapore was seized from the relevant bank account by the Commercial Affairs Department, and returned to Citibank in 2010.

A further sum of about S$35,000 was recovered from Amos during investigations, and he paid another S$100,000 in restitution.

After initially claiming trial, Amos pleaded guilty on Thursday to various charges related to money laundering. He also admitted to traffic offences.

In October 2016, he had driven a blue Lamborghini dangerously on East Coast Parkway, overtaking a van at high speed. The father of the van driver made a police report.

Amos was later found without a valid driving licence in Singapore. He had a licence issued by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but had not converted it within three months of obtaining his Singapore PR status.

On the money laundering charges, the prosecution called for Amos to be punished appropriately.

"Your Honour knows how important it is to protect Singapore’s reputation as a clean and trusted financial centre," said the prosecutors. "We must stand strongly against the scourge of money-laundering. The accused must be punished appropriately, so as to deter others from trying to launder money in Singapore

Lists implications of rising unemployment, global crisis

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele has raised the alarm that the country might  slide back to recession except urgent measures are taken to address the high rate of unemployment.

He said the country has made progress in the year under review but more efforts  were needed to reduce the staggering unemployment rate.

“From some of my concluding remarks, you may have observed whether you like it or not, there is global uncertainty that will unfortunately most certainly lead to another crisis.

“The question could be, how are we, as Nigerians, particularly our leaders, I’m talking of monetary and fiscal policy authority, preparing our country for the next set of crisis?

“We have luckily exited recession, we have seen recession pending downward to about 18.72 percent in 2017 to about 11. 37 percent today.

“We have seen reserves moving up but unfortunately, we still have issues and those issues bother around unemployment rate and those issues bother around how do we prepare our country,” he said.

He expressed his concerns when he delivered the Eminent Persons’ Lecture Series  with the theme: “Beyond the global financial crisis: Monetary policy under global uncertainty” at the University of Benin, yesterday.

The warning came exactly a week after he alerted Nigerians to expect tough and rough years.

“The road ahead is tough and rough. I want to appeal to our people to respect the policies of the country. We always put good policies in place, but implementation is a problem, he stated when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, as part of his reconfirmation hearing, blamed part of the country’s woes on disrespect for the rule of law.

Emefiele, who explained how the CBN led the country out of recession, however, warned that going forward, saboteurs and others who flout economic policies of the government will be prosecuted. He said despite the policies put in place by the Federal Government, implementation was always a challenge.

He also warned against the nation’s growing population and explained that if not properly managed, it will become a liability.

“We just returned from IMF programme. Nigeria is estimated to be over 420 population by 2050. It means we will be more than the United States in terms of population. We need to provide employment and opportunities for our rural population. We need to prepare for this boom,” he said.

Speaking in the Edo State capital, yesterday, he outlined effort made by the CBN to stabilise the nation’s economy, including introduction of the Investors and Exporters Window, which has helped in shoring up the country’s external reserves.

He said the turnover in the I&E FX Window has reached over $48 billion since the inception of the Window while the foreign exchange reserves rose to $45 billion in April 2019 from $23 billion in October 2016.

He said with the improved availability of foreign exchange, the exchange rate at I&E FX Window has remained stable over the past 24 months at an average of N360/$, and the parallel market exchange rate has appreciated from N525/$ in February 2017 to N360/$ today.

He assured that the apex bank would continue to take a proactive approach in mitigating the likely adverse effects that may emanate from external headwinds.

Besides, he said policies that would enhance domestic production of goods that can be produced in Nigeria along with measures that improve the stability of the financial system would continue to be employed.

He added that the CBN would ensure increased coordination between fiscal and monetary policies in deploying measures that will support economic growth and reduce unemployment in the country.

The apex bank chief also called for concerted efforts to insulate the Nigeria’s economy from the potential effects of a slow down in global growth or a decline in commodity  prices.

The warning, he said, became necessary in the face of ongoing trade war between the United States of America and China, two largest world economies, which has resulted in the imposition  of tariffs on goods emanating from both countries.

Emefiele listed other current global uncertainties as normalisation of monetary policy by the US Federal Reserve System, which could lead to acute capital flow reversals and increase financial fragilities in emerging markets; the crude oil market like the US sanctions on crude oil import on Iran and Venezuela,  along with output cuts by OPEC members which is helping to shape outcomes in the crude oil market.

The other, he mentioned, is weak and fragile global growth. He explained that with global output growth downgraded to 3.5 percent in 2019 from 3.7 percent in 2018, there were suggestions that the expected economic downturn may be much more than initially estimated, especially with significant uncertainties brewing around the advanced economies that are expected to lead this growth.

He, however, suggested measures that both the fiscal and monetary authorities could carry out to overcome any of these uncertainties.

This include the need to strengthen Nigeria fiscal buffers in order to improve its ability to address potential downturns in the economy as a result of a slowdown in global growth.

Besides, he said efforts should be intensified at supporting targeted interventions in agriculture  and manufacturing sectors.

He also recommended continued restriction on the importation of items that could be produced in Nigeria and stepping up efforts to curtain smuggling of restricted items into the country. Such astion, he said, would help support domestic production of goods in the country.

He said experience has shown global cycles have the potential of amplifying business cycles in emerging and developing markets which are capable of posing significant challenges to monetary policy.

But he warned that “strong macroeconomic fundamentals may not be enough to insulate the real economy from the effect of vagaries of the uncertainties in the global economic and contagion of poor financial conditions in other emerging economies”.

In the CBN Governor’s view,  “a wider response incorporating a mix of conventional and unconventional monetary policy measures is needed to combat the multi-dimensional headwinds emanating from external shocks and global uncertainties.”

Vice Chancellor, University of Benin, Prof. Friday Orumwense, said as the world becomes increasingly global, new ways must be being explored, hence the lecture series serves as a means to connect and to continue to rub minds together and brainstorm on how to improve on capacity building of the staff. He urged the university staff and the students to take the lecture series seriously.

TheSun

A millionaire businessman is facing jail after he admitted to having sex with a schoolgirl while flying his private jet.

Stephen Bradley Mell put his plane on autopilot to engage in sex acts with the 15-year-old in the air, according to court documents.

The New Jersey bond trader had been approached by the victim’s mother to give the teenager flying lessons.

The 53-year-old faces at least five years in a federal prison after admitting charges of engaging in interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct and receiving child pornography.

He had a helipad at his home, owned several aircraft and ran a charitable foundation, Air Lifeline, which allowed families of children with medical problems to fly anywhere in the US for treatment.

The married father-of-three began communicating with the victim, then 15, through text messages and Snapchat in 2017, according to court documents obtained by the Bridgewater Courier News.

Their exchanges reportedly turned sexual when he asked her “if she knew how to perform oral sex”.

He later invited her to spent time at his home in Bedminster, an affluent town in Somerset County.

Mell “performed oral sex acts” on the girl in June 2017, according to the court papers.

He later messaged her to say: “Miss you so much.”

The next month he again performed sex acts on the girl and purchased an emergency contraceptive pill for her.

“If you are nervous it will hurt more,” Mell he told her in a text message. “When you are turned on is when it will feel OK.” 

On 20 July 2017, he flew with the victim in his private plane from Somerset Airport to Barnstable, Massachusetts “for the purpose of engaging in illicit conduct, specifically, a sexual act with a person under the age of eighteen", court papers state.

On the flight back, he reportedly put the plane on autopilot to engage in sex acts.

During an August 2017 trip to New York City, Mell again had sex with the girl and took pictures of her naked. He later pressured her to "get the IUD", referring a form of birth control inserted into a woman's uterus.

Mell, whose face has filed for divorce, pleaded guilty to the charges in December last year. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this week. 

He is also facing a multiple-year sentence in a state prison after admitting endangering the welfare of a child by engaging in sexual relations with a female victim under the age of 16.

He will be sentenced for that charge on 12 July.

Independent

Each senator in the 8th assembly got a monthly running cost of N13.5 million. This was aside the basic salary and other allowances that they received. Since there are 109 senators, their running cost amounted to N1.47 billion in a month and would have reached a total of N70.6 billion by the end of this month. Over N70 billion was spent on running cost alone in the 8th assembly.

In a country where 46 percent of its citizens are currently living below the poverty line of $1.90 or N693.5 per day, the running cost could have been used to solve some basic needs. In this piece, TheCable looks at what that amount could have been used for in different sectors.

HEALTH

It is no news that Nigeria lacks an effective healthcare system. Cancer has been identified as one of the leading causes of death globally. For a country of 198 million people, there are just four radiotherapy centres. The dearth of radiotherapy services in Nigeria increases the mortality rate as those who cannot afford the expensive treatment die from the sickness while others who can afford the cost of treatment travel abroad to seek medical care.

So, what could the money have been used for in this sector?

With a radiotherapy machine valued at $3 million (N918 million at CBN rate of $1/N306), N70.6 billion could have been used to purchase 77 of such machines.

It can also be used to acquire and install 1,412 c-arm x-ray machines with one valued at N50 million. Noteworthy is the fact that c-arm x-ray machines are mostly used during orthopedic procedures and apart from being mobile, they give a real-time clear-cut view of anatomic structures of the patients.

SECURITY

The rate of insecurity is alarming. From banditry to kidnapping to insurgency. There have been reports of the attackers using the best type of arms and ammunition. The insurgents, for example, have been said to be in possession of more sophisticated weapons than the Nigerian soldiers.

The N70.6 billion senators pocketed as running cost over a four-year period can acquire 16 JF17 thunder aircraft which costs N4.3 billion for one.

Nigeria’s economy also suffer huge losses from the activities of sea pirates and militants in the Niger Delta region. And N70.6 billion can help make much difference in that aspect; with one gun boat valued at N20 million, 3,531 of such boats can be injected into the navy’s fight against militancy.

EDUCATION

Nigeria currently has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The organisation said about 13.2 million children in the country are not in school. Checks by TheCable revealed that N10 million can be used to construct a standard block of four classrooms. This means that with N70.6 billion, the country can afford to construct a total of N7,063 of such blocks across the country.

SOCIAL WELFARE

Another aspect the fund can be of great use is in the area of social welfare, with particular reference to empowerment programmes such as constructing information communication technology (ICT) centres in the country.

At the value of N58.3 million for a fully equipped ICT centre, N70.6 billion could be used to construct and equip 1,211 of such centres across the 36 states and the FCT.

POWER SECTOR

Nigeria’s electricity situation has been anything but commendable. Recently, power generation dropped by 312 megawatts, from about 3,231 MW to 2,919 MW, after a cut in gas supply was reported in four key power plants across the nation. Despite the power being generated, citizens still complain of paying for power they never consumed through estimated billings. The only way out of the alleged exploitation is with prepaid meters now being used in parts of the country. Senators’ running cost can also come to the rescue in this aspect.

While single phase meters cost N37,000, three phase meters are acquired at N67,000. This means with N70.6 billion, Nigeria can be able to acquire a total of 1,909,438 single phase meters and 1,053,329 three phase meters for citizens across the country.

WATER

Another area the senators’ allowances can have an alternative huge impact is the water sector. In 2018, UNICEF reported that 69 million Nigerians did not have access to safe water. And 83 percent of schools in the country were said to have also lacked water supply.

Here’s where the succour could come: with N450,000 as fund for drilling a borehole in Nigeria, N7.6 billion can afford the country 1,712,515 boreholes which will most likely go round for most communities.

SALARIES

Only recently, the federal government approved a minimum wage of N30,000 for its workers at both federal and state levels. Before then, workers were collecting N18,000 – one of the least in the world. Interestingly, even the new minimum wage being celebrated is still far from being enough; the money is three times less than the South African minimum wage and — wait for it — 450 times lower than what a senator collects as monthly running cost (minus salary). The N1.47 billion being pocketed by the 109 senators in a month can pay a total of 49,050 Nigerian workers salaries at minimum wage level.

Additional reports by Ebunoluwa Olafusi

TheCable

The main actors in the IAAF’s ‘missing’ $135, 000 saga yesterday revealed how the money was ‘spent’ by the sports ministry and some key officials of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

The IAAF in 2017 erroneously sent $150,000 to the AFN instead of the annual $15,000 it usually gives to its affiliates.

On discovering the error, the world athletics body wrote to the AFN demanding the return of $135,000, which is the excess amount it paid the Nigerian body. However, after two years, the AFN has not refunded the money, prompting the IAAF to threaten to sanction the country.

On Tuesday, Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung and 11 AFN board members held a marathon meeting in Abuja to among other things, find ways of avoiding the possible IAAF sanctions.

A source at the meeting told The Guardian yesterday that the sports minister was angry with two top officials of the AFN, claiming that he was the main target in the IAAF ‘missing’ $135,000 debacle.

“The minister was really angry because he felt the AFN deliberately leaked IAAF’s letter to the media to ensure he did not return as minister. He said that he approved N39.9 million (about $108,000) from the IAAF money for the AFN to procure kits.

The minister said that when the AFN requested for money to purchase the kits, he told Ibrahim Gusau that the only money available in the ministry was the IAAF money, which he approved. He was angry that Gusau did not carry other board members of the AFN along.

“The minister also stated that he approved N13 million to the AFN for Nigeria’s participation at the last African U18/U20 Athletics Championship in Cote d’Ivoire. You can see how two persons in the AFN board have been operating like a secret cult,” the source stated.

Several calls made by The Guardian to the AFN President, Gusau, yesterday were not answered. He also did not respond to a test message sent to his mobile phone.

However, the Technical Director of the AFN, Sunday Adeleye, told The Guardian that the issue of how the IAAF money was spent was never discussed at the meeting on Tuesday.

He said: “There was never a time the minister told anybody at that meeting how IAAF money was spent. We actually asked for money to purchase kits for Team Nigeria about eight days to Asaba 2018 African Senior Athletics Championship. Don’t forget that the IAAF money transaction was done in 2017. So, how come the money was still there in 2018?

“When it was obvious that our athletes would face an international embarrassment due to lack of kits, we approached the Permanent Secretary for money. He said we should put our request in writing, which we did. Then, the AFN Secretary General Amaechi Akawo was already in Asaba working with the LOC for the championship.

“But when the file got to the table of Tayo Oreweme (Director, Federation of Elite Athletes Department (FEAD) in the Sports ministry), she insisted that such requests should be made by the AFN secretary.

So Akawo had to come down to Abuja to apply for the money. I was in Europe for the kits, and that was what saved us from international embarrassment. But I must say that it is not true for anybody to say that we used the IAAF money to buy kits. No, it is not true. And it is not also true that we got N13 million for the trip to Abidjan. The issue of the IAAF money is receiving attention. It will be taken care of soon,” Adeleye stated.

The Guardian learnt that two board members, Rosa Collins and Dare Esan were deliberately excluded from Tuesday’s meeting in Abuja. No reason has been given for their exclusion

TheGuardian

FIVE communities in Lotto area of Ogun State have protested the proposed demolition of over 500 houses by the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing to give way for a proposed road interchange.

Two weeks ago, the ministry’s officials in conjunction with their Julius Berger counterparts marked and enumerated the houses, a situation that has elicited reactions from the landlords in the areas.

Some of the landlords, who spoke to The Nation yesterday, condemned the ministry’s plan.

They accused the ministry of not consulting with residents.

Communities that will be affected are: Orange Estate, Ogo Oluwa, Gbebira, Destiny, Charity, Dominion and Unity.

A statement issued by the  Communities’ Development Associations read: “We received the action of the Ministry as an affront and total disregard for life and well-being of the people, the right and feelings of over 500 householders and millions of other citizens living in the Lotto Community.

“We totally reject and condemned a project that will wipe out the entire community, who had suffered and spent all their hard earned savings to provide shelter for themselves at a time when the government had failed to provide for the citizens.”

The communities said the religious entity, which generate the monthly crowd that put pressure on the road should be the ones to address the problem “within its space without causing a capital loss on the government and injury in form of capital loss and psychological trauma on their neighbours”.

According to the statement, the communities said they appreciated the presence of the various religious bodies in their neighborhood.

They, however, said the interchange design, if it must be considered in the area, “must be scaled down drastically in scope”.

A resident, Francis Ehicasy, who spoke to The Nation on the issue, said: “I am a retiree and I served the Federal Government for 35 years and all my life savings were used to build this house, which I have being living in for 20 years. I was shocked to wake up one day and I discovered that my house was marked for demolition.

“I began to ask questions and they said that the Federal Government want to build an interchange. It is not bad to bring development to a community, but the development that will wipe out a whole community is something that makes me worry.

“Yes, the road is for everybody, but not at the expense of people living in that community.  The government can scale the project down because the design of the interchange leads to nowhere. Then, what is the use of the interchange? A cross-over bridge can serve the same purpose.”

When asked whether he would accept the government’s compensation plan, he said: “What is money to me?  The money is useless to me. I cannot build the same kind of house within six months and then have the same pleasure that I am having there now. You are going to displace me, and my children from their Schools.”

Also, another landlord, Adewummi Badejo, lamented the proposed demolition, saying the demolition would displace him and his family.

Badejo, whose house has also been marked for demolition, said: “I feel so bad that I will be displaced. We don’t want interchange. We prefer a flyover.”

The Federal Controller of Works for Lagos, Ademola Fred Kuti, in his reaction, said the decision to mark the buildings for demolition was in overriding public interest.

He added that the affected property owners would be compensated in accordance with the law.

Kuti stated: “I am aware that we are trying to do some construction around that place. But if we are doing that, there is always room for compensation. Those affected will be adequately compensated in accordance with the law.

“They (residents) are not to tell us where to construct an interchange. Before choosing a location, we look at so many engineering factors and we’ve come up with the best engineering design. So, when the time comes, we will get everything done and if any of those houses has to go, it is in the overriding public interest.

“Nigerians on the road are more important than anyone else. So they should write to meet us instead of protesting, and we’ll tell them what we’re doing. Protesting will not solve any problem.”

TheNation

A depressed and suicidal Nigerian man has burnt his BSc and NYSC certificates. In a video he sent to LIB, the man identified as Korede, said he graduated 5 years ago from the Ladoke Akintola University at the age of 23 and is yet to secure a job.

According to the man, he got admission to further his education in a Canadian University but was unable to go because he was not financially stable. 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Depressed Nigerian man sets his BSc and NYSC certificates on fire after being unable to secure a job five years after graduation. He says he has been suicidal for a while.

A post shared by Lindaikejiblog (@lindaikejiblogofficial) on May 22, 2019 at 1:02am PDT

 

Recovering former Super Eagles coach, Christian Chukwu was today visited by Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola and NFF chairman Amaju Pinnick.

They paid him a visit at the Wellington Hospital, Circus Road, St John’s Woods London where he’s receiving treatment and recuperating.

Christian Chukwu arrived in London with his wife earlier this month for an appointment with a renowned cardiologist and upon his arrival in London, Chukwu was quoted as saying: “It is waist pain and stomach upset that I keep feeling. The doctors in Nigeria have treated the stomach upset and it remains the waist pain, but I am confident that I will come back to Nigeria having regained sound health,”

His trip to the UK was bankrolled by billionaire mogul Femi Otedola with the donation of $50,000 to the ailing football legend.

Controversial Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh has dropped names of entertainers who should stay off her new Man.

She also promises to drag their whole existence if they approach him for sponsorship of any kind! 

“BLOGGERS YOUR FOOD IS READY !!IWILL DISHRACE YOUR FUTURE!Ik igbonna,Annie,2face(I am sure you understand why you are dragged into this dirt??)),eniola,praise,juju ,TOYIN and co be warned I truly dont want problem!!But I will beat you up,if you can beat me get ready!!#DROPS MICSigned KING TONTO ” she wrote.