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Banks (Finance)

$12 Million Illicitly Swapped Through SunTrust Bank in 10 Days

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Suleiman Ciroma, a witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has revealed how $12 million was transferred through SunTrust Bank in a mere 10 days. Ciroma provided evidence of the transactions, which involved the bank's Managing Director/CEO, Halima Buba, and Executive Director/Chief Compliance Officer, Innocent Mbagwu. The defendants face charges for money laundering, accused of facilitating high-value cash transactions without proper financial institution channels.

Key Takeaways:

  • The transactions involved a total of $12 million, swapped in tranches into the Zenith Bank account of Oceangate Energy Oil and Gas, a company owned by oil magnate Aisha Achimugu.
  • The scheme began on March 10 after a call from Achimugu to Suleiman Ciroma, who informed him of upcoming foreign exchange transactions with SunTrust Bank.
  • Halima Buba, the Managing Director/CEO of SunTrust Bank, confirmed her awareness of the transactions with Ciroma, who arranged for his friend Hassan Dantani to collect $1 million in cash for the swap.
  • Specific transactions were detailed by Ciroma, including the collection of an additional $1 million in Abuja by Abdulkadir Mohammed, and $2 million by Kabiru.
  • Ciroma admitted to earning a profit of N15 million from the deals, stating that Achimugu needed dollar inflows to purchase an oil block.
  • The trial continues on July 18, as the EFCC seeks to prove the defendants' role in the alleged money laundering scheme.

Statistics:

  • $12 million was illicitly swapped through SunTrust Bank in 10 days.
  • The transactions involved tranches of $1 million, $1 million, and $2 million, in addition to other transactions not specified.
  • N150 million was earned by Ciroma in profit from the deals.
  • Buba and Mbagwu, the defendants, were granted N100 million bail each on June 13.
  • The trial continues on July 18.

Sources:

  • "EFCC witness testifies on how $12m was swapped through SunTrust Bank in 10 days" [1]
  • [No additional sources mentioned in the original text]

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