Notices were placed at the entrance of the office, demanding an immediate apology and retraction of the story by the newspaper.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, a reporter with Daily Guide , Ernest Adu, said : “we came this Wednesday]  morning to find our offices locked with notices saying that we should apologize to Otumfuo.”

According to Mr. Adu, there was a clear notice indicating that, the office will not be opened be if Daily Guide fails to apologize.

The Daily Guide story in question that has supposedly infuriated the youth, was titled “Otumfuo’s £350,000 pounds cash causes stir in UK.”

Checks by citifmonline.com established that, Daily Guide Newspaper, has for now pulled down the story from its website.

Background

The Asantehene’s name popped up in the UK media, in a suspected money laundering case, after he sent a bank official to deposit a cash amount of £350,000 on his behalf.

According to the UK’s Telegraph, when Osei Tutu II, summoned Mark Arthur to his multi-million-pound residence in Henley-on-Thames and handed him a bag containing almost £200,000 in sterling as well as $200,000 in US currency with consecutive serial numbers, the bank official felt it inappropriate to ask too many questions.

However, the subsequent deposit of the cash at the Ghana International Bank, triggered a money laundering alert in the City of London and cost Mr. Arthur his job.

According to the report, the King, who once worked at Brent council, summoned Mr. Arthur, the bank’s second most senior executive, to his home in August in 2016.

Mr. Arthur, the bank’s official, is currently in a legal tussle over his dismissal for allegedly breaking banking rules.

However, events unfolding suggests that the Bank has not accused the Asantehene of money laundering as has been suggested, and that it is only dealing strictly with its official who bend the rules in such transactions.

Asantehene money laundering claims baseless – Ghana Intl. Bank

The Ghana International Bank has since clarified that, the ongoing tribunal hearing that has captured the public’s attention, is not about whether the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II engaged in money laundering or not.

There is not even any suggestion of money laundering allegations against the Asantehene, the Ghana International Bank said.

A statement from the UK-based bank asserted that, the ongoing litigation between the bank and a former Executive Director, Mark Arthur, concerned breaches of the Bank’s internal policies and UK laws.

These breaches were said to have happened when Mr. Arthur carried out a transaction on behalf of the Asantehene, reportedly involving £350,000.

This transaction at Ghana International Bank triggered a money laundering alert and cost Mr. Arthur his job.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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According to EOCO, over 16 British have fallen victim to the fraud which involves about £5 million

The suspects, Moro Musah and Sabina Adzre, allegedly operate with UK-based Opoku Agyeman, who is believed to be a Ghanaian citizen.

The two were arrested on Tuesday morning.

Addressing the media on the development, a Deputy Executive Director of EOCO in charge of Operations, Nana Antwi, said further investigations into the matter are ongoing.

He said the one-year investigation was a collaboration between the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), NACOB, Police, and coordinated by EOCO as well as the UK’s National Crime Agency.

Nana Antwi noted that, the investigations, which was started by the UK’s Crime Agency, revealed that the monies acquired through the crime were transferred to Ghana through some banks, withdrawn and later invested in legitimate businesses mainly clothing.

“Following an investigation into trade-based money laundering in the UK and in Ghana, the NCA commenced an investigation into the money laundering and romance fraud. So far, the investigations have uncovered that over 16 persons have fallen victims to this fraud from which over £5 million has been identified as stolen from victims in the UK. This amount has been transferred from the UK and found their way through certain accounts in some banks in Ghana. Currently, those monies have been withdrawn from those accounts,” he said.

“The use of second-hand clothing, for that matter, the textiles business, has been applied to launder the proceeds of the identified romance fraud. The Ghanaian security agencies were alerted by their counterparts in the UK, and we in Ghana also commenced investigations into the fraud about a year ago,” he added.

The EOCO Deputy Executive Director, who described the case as a “complex organized financial crime”, added that a simultaneous search in some residences of suspects led to the arrest of the two persons in Accra, and one other in the UK.

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By: Sixtus Dong-Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post EOCO arrests 2 Ghanaians for money laundering, romance scam appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He explains that even though the deposits ordered by the traditional leader triggered a suspicion of money laundering, the inability of a subsequent investigation to conclude same defeats the arguments.

[contextly_sidebar id=”lVzFOEW71fmviCF0uLWNjpRINZOpZS2S”]A UK-based A UK-based the Telegraph’s publication last week, said one Mark Arthur had alleged the Asantehene tasked him to deposit 350 thousand pounds into an account; under circumstances analysts have described as money laundering.

Mr. Mark Arthur, who has lost his job at the Ghana International Bank, is contesting his dismissal at a Tribunal in the UK.

The Tribunal has since deferred judgement to the next four weeks.

But reacting to the issue, Nana Otuo Acheampong maintained that, the allegations against the traditional leader could not have been the case.

“The documents I have in my possession doesn’t testify to that; what it says is that, [Mark Arthur] got the money and enquired from the King the source, and he was told and went straight ahead to deposit it in the account. But then what he failed was to decide whether that was according to the Know Your Customer (KYC) rules or out of the ordinary or it was normal; but because the system was triggered, it showed that it was out of sink and that is why it was flagged up,” he explained.

Nana Otuo also the Executive Director of the Osei Tutu II Centre for Executive Education and Research, further argued that the laws would have been triggered long in the matter had there been any grounds of truth in the case against the King.

“Under the UK anti-money laundering law, once the system has flagged a transaction, a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) would have to be filed and this was done. But subsequently nothing was found… If it was a money laundering issue, when they filed the SAR, something would have happened but up till date, nothing has happened.”

Asantehene money laundering claims baseless – Ghana Intl. Bank

Meanwhile, the Ghana International Bank has clarified that an ongoing tribunal hearing that has captured the public’s attention, is not about whether the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II engaged in money laundering or not.

There is not even any suggestion of money laundering allegations against the Asantehene, the Ghana International Bank said.

A statement from the UK-based bank asserted that, the ongoing litigation between the bank and a former Executive Director, Mark Arthur, concerned breaches of the Bank’s internal policies and UK laws.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Banking Consultant rejects money laundering claims against Otumfuo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an investigation into how the spy agency headed by Mr Oke came into possession of the money, his office added.

Mr Oke has not yet commented.

However, unnamed intelligence officials told local media that the money was kept in the flat for covert operations.

Anti-corruption officials have uncovered bundles of cash in Nigeria this year.

Mr Buhari took office in 2015 with a pledge to root out corruption in government.

In a statement, his office said he had also suspended his close aide, David Babachir Lawal, pending an investigation into contracts awarded to deal with the humanitarian crisis in the north-east. The region has been hit by an insurgency by militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

A three-member panel, led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, will investigate both cases, Mr Buhari’s office added.

Apart from US notes worth $43.4m, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) found nearly £27,800 and some 23m naira ($75,000) at the empty flat in Lagos’s affluent Ikoyi suburb.

The National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which led by Mr Oke, had laid claim to the money, Mr Buhari’s office said.

The panel has been ordered to report within 14 days on who authorised the release of the money to the NIA and whether any laws or security procedures had been breached, Mr Buhari’s office added.

Mr Oke would remain suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, it said.

Last week, the EFCC said it carried out the raid after a tip-off that a woman, looking “haggard” and wearing “dirty clothes”, was taking bags in and out of the seventh-floor flat.

The “neatly arranged” cash was stashed in “sealed wrappers” in wardrobes and cabinets in the four-bedroom flat, the EFCC added.

In March, it said it had found “crispy” banknotes worth $155,000 at the airport in northern Kaduna city.

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Source: BBC

The post Buhari suspends spy chief after $43m found in Lagos appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Officials raided the flat after a tip-off about a “haggard-looking” woman in “dirty clothes” taking bags in and out of it, the agency added.

The money was believed to be from unlawful activity, but no arrests have as yet been made, the agency added.

This is the latest in a series of raids which uncovered bundles of cash in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy.

In March, the agency said it had found “crispy” banknotes worth $155,000 (£130,000) at the airport in northern Kaduna city.

Apart from US notes worth $43.4m, investigators found nearly £27,800 and some 23m naira ($75,000) at the four-bedroom flat in Lagos’s affluent Ikoyi area, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said in a statement.

The “neatly arranged” cash was stashed in “sealed wrappers” in wardrobes and cabinets in the seventh-floor flat, the EFCC added.

Guards told investigators that no-one lived in the flat, but a source reported that a “woman usually appeared on different occasions with Ghana Must Go bags”, the EFCC said.

“She comes looking haggard, with dirty clothes but her skin didn’t quite match her outward appearance, perhaps a disguise,” it quoted a source as saying.

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Source: BBC

The post Nigeria’s EFCC ‘finds $43m in Lagos flat’ appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the EFCC, the money stashed in several bags popularly called ‘Ghana Must Go’ were in N500 and N1000 denominations, hidden in the shops and awaiting conversion into foreign currency.

Relying on information provided by a concerned whistleblower, operatives of the Commission swooped in on the shopping complex and sought the identity of the owners of the two shops, LS 64 and LS 67 which were under locks and keys.

The shops had signages of Bureau de Change. Inquiries about the owner of shop 64 indicated he had not been seen for a long time, as they claimed the shop had not been opened for business for close to two years. Several calls were put to the owner of shop 67 but there was no response.

The attention of the plaza’s chairman and some traders were drawn in order to force the shops open. There was no money found in shop 67, but in shop 64, heaps of “Ghana Must Go” bags were found loaded on the floor of the shop.

When the bags were unzipped, they were found to contain bundles of naira notes totalling N448,850,000.

Traders interviewed at the premises claimed they were not aware such money was housed in there, as the place hardly opened for business.

The Commission is investigating the matter in order to unravel the owner and source of the money.

See photos below…

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Source: Vanguard Nigeria

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