“EMEFIELE TRIAL: WITNESS REVEALS $6.2M CBN HEIST INVOLVING FORGED BUHARI SIGNATURE “
GREATRIBUNTVNEWS–A prosecution witness, Bashirudden Muhammed Maishanu, has testified that $6,230,000 was stolen from the CBN Garki Branch using forged documents, allegedly for election observers and logistics.
Key Highlights:
– Forged Signature : The documents bore a forged signature purportedly signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
– Withdrawal Process : The money was withdrawn on February 8, 2023, with the help of an Alhaji Ahmed, who claimed to be working with the SGF office.
– Split Payment : $2.5 million was allegedly left for the witness and two others, while the rest was taken by Ahmed and his associates.
– Witness’s Role : The witness, an Assistant Director at CBN, facilitated the withdrawal but claimed he didn’t know the documents were forged initially.
– CBN Procedures : The bank has rigorous processes for payments, and sanctions for erring staff include demotion, termination, or dismissal.
_”I not only assume. I am sure because I know that the CBN has rigorous processes for payment… it could be based on the likelihood of forged documents, especially of that value slipping through the system,”_ Bashirudden Muhammed Maishanu said.
_”The cash was taken from the branch in Garki, so I can’t say but it is on the document. There is a flow and every person involved in that flow has his signature on the internal document,”_ he added.
Speaking on the $2.5 million left for them by Ahmed, the witness said that the sum was left for him and two others.
“Now from this money, you testified that you got a share of $2.5m? “Yes, that is not mine.” “It was the share of the three of us.”
The further confessed to the court that he did not play any role in monitoring the 2023 elections adding that when he got the $2.5 million he did not know it was fraudulent.
“I couldn’t conclude that it was fraudulent because at that point in time documents had been passed and paid for a specific purpose. What made me suspicious like I said earlier was the volume of money they had left with my friends,” he said.
He further informed the court that he met Mr. Obazi who showed him the forged documents, for which he said he told Obazi that he would accept responsibility.
“When I met Mr. Obazi, he showed me the forged documents, I told him that I would accept personal responsibility for a number of reasons. Firstly, I had become involved, and Mr. Eric was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t ask some of our friends whom I know had good contact with him. I was worried about the damage it would do to myself. Until that point, I had no idea it was a fraud,” he said, adding that he did not consider the money as a gift, but rather as a set-up.
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