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Six Nigerian Central Bankers Arrested In Currency Rigging "Mega Scam"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Those following the ongoing currency market rigging scandal may be surprised to learn it isn't just a "developed" world phenomenon in which virtually all TBTF commercial and central banks, such as the Bank of England, take part and engage in criminal manipulation of everything that trades. Apparently even plain-vanilla "developing" countries, elsewhere also known as 'banana republics', do it too such as that ground zero of 419 scams, Nigeria, only there FX manipulation takes place at such a modest degree most "cartel" chat room members wouldn't even bother to waste their time.

According to Bloomberg, six Nigerian central bankers were charged with fraud in an 8 billion naira ($40.2 million with an m, not a b, not a tr) currency "scam." No chat rooms here, just a plain old "mega scam involving the theft and recirculation of defaced and mutilated currencies,” the Abuja-based Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said in a statement dated Sunday on its website.  In addition to the central bankers, among those charged are also sixteen commercial bankers who conspired with Central Bank of Nigeria regional executives. The suspects will appear at the Federal High Court in the southwest city of Ibadan from Tuesday to June 4.

This is where it gets amusing: "instead of destroying defaced local currency, the officials substituted it with newspaper cut into the size of naira notes, the EFCC said. The fraud was partly to blame for the failure of monetary policy to check inflationary pressure for years, according to the agency."

In other words, Nigerian authorities blame financial executives for using currency-like newspaper clippings in lieu of notes for propagating inflation. Let that sink in for a second.

The “systematic scheme” had been running for several years and “middle-level officers” were either dismissed or placed on indefinite suspension in October and handed over to the EFCC, the central bank said in a separate statement on its website on Monday. A national audit at the regulator’s 37 branches found it was an “isolated scheme” in the southwestern city of Ibadan.

 

The EFCC said the scam was exposed on Nov. 3 through a petition alleging more than 6.6 billion naira was diverted and recycled by “light-fingered top executives of the CBN at the Ibadan branch.”

 

The suspects, who were responsible for taking mutilated notes in exchange for fresh cash equivalent to the amount deposited, abused their positions, the EFCC said. Investigations found boxes that should have contained bundles of naira notes filled with newspaper instead.

 

“This practice, known as interleafing, basically labels a box with a higher value than its true content,” the central bank said. “The bank will continue to collaborate with the EFCC to ensure that affected CBN staff, as well as their accomplices in some commercial banks, are brought to justice.”

And unlike in the US, where the criminal bankers control the regulators and enforcers through the "rotating" (and in Goldman's case, double-rotating) door phenomenon, in Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari, a 72-year-old former military ruler, has made battling endemic corruption one of his administration’s top priorities.

It is therefore likely that if convicted, the accused will likely see many years of prison time or worse, instead of just suffer a monetary penalty paid for by shareholders and a deferred prosecution.

Which may explain why rumors are already rife the currency manipulation crew has begged the Southern District of New York to extradite them to the United States where they can face the proper "justice" for  financial criminals which guarantees immunity from any actual hard time.

Joking aside, after several central bankers are sentenced to spend years to contemplate their criminal decisions in Nigerian prison, one may ask "who truly is the banana republic", especially since the most difficult decision facing those who colluded, defrauded and manipulated tens of billions, will be in which of their numerous East Hampton mansions they will spend the upcoming weekend.

 

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Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:34 | 6157455 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Arrest Lloyd Blankfein.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:49 | 6157500 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Never happen. Instead it will be YOU will be arrested first, tried in a secret court and sent to a secret torture prison, all in the name of national security.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:52 | 6157512 Waylon Bits
Waylon Bits's picture

Fuck you Nigeria, the we is still waiting for that inherited $3 Billion!

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:21 | 6157601 Larry Dallas
Larry Dallas's picture

Shocking! Nigeria? Never!!!

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 21:05 | 6157713 espirit
espirit's picture

Sooo... the Rothschild Central Banksters don't like to be CONned.

Imagine that!

Wed, 06/03/2015 - 01:31 | 6158215 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

I was wondering where my nigerian email offering to let me hold "$3.553,999 in my account until it clear" went.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:35 | 6157458 Freedom In Your...
Freedom In Your Lifetime's picture

The dark continent finally gets a little light. Need to get some western 'civilized' economists to now do a study and see if there is any correlation between central bankers arrests (and/or executions) and job growth...

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:35 | 6157459 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

  FINRA needs a few Nigerian patsies.

 BTW? Where's Jon Corzine?

 Bitchez

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:38 | 6157467 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

Corzine is in Nigeria?

Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.

 

How do you know a bankster is a thief? He wears a suit.

Wed, 06/03/2015 - 01:16 | 6158194 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

"Corzine is in Nigeria?"

Where does she live?  Isn't it time for him to come out?

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:40 | 6157474 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

Great, now Krugman is going to write a blog post about a trillion dollar newspaper clipping.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:41 | 6157478 itstippy
itstippy's picture

Dammit.  I sent that Nigerian guy $2000 and my bank account info just last week so he could get those funds out of the country.  We were going to split the take.  I KNEW it was to good to be true.  Now the fucking "Abuja-based Economic and Financial Crimes Commission" has screwed things up, whoever they are.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:42 | 6157485 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

I know the Nigerian guy you speak of and can secure the transaction for an additional $2000.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:21 | 6157603 indaknow
indaknow's picture

Now thats fucking funny

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:15 | 6157586 Rusty Shorts
Rusty Shorts's picture
Nigeria - Uzodinma Okpechi - I Go Chop Your Dollar

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1nKR3gYRY8

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:03 | 6157489 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

The new Nigerian President was just sworn in on May 29th and pledged to fight corruption and shrink government. He moves fast. Can we get this new guy an Hawaiian birth Certificate?

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:40 | 6157640 Thirtyseven
Thirtyseven's picture

An African nation freed of the grip of corruption?  They might actually outpace the USA in a couple decades.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:45 | 6157491 Wild Theories
Wild Theories's picture

Was any of them a long-lost Nigerian prince fallen on hard times?

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:56 | 6157526 Evil Bugeyes
Evil Bugeyes's picture

But inflation is GOOD. Paul Krugman tells me so! Shouldn't they be rewarded for helping to stimulate the economy and devalue the gvernment's debt?

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 19:57 | 6157528 stormsailor
stormsailor's picture

yeah, i have a fax from a couple years back.  damn, i could'a been rich.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:07 | 6157563 world_debt_slave
world_debt_slave's picture

I bet over there they will get necklaced

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:21 | 6157604 SillySalesmanQu...
SillySalesmanQuestion's picture

More brown riggers being arrested for white collared crime, more at eleven....

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:40 | 6157641 Rob Jones
Rob Jones's picture

Imagine! Central Bankers arrested for causing inflation. Don't they know that is what they are supposed to do? What a backward country!

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:42 | 6157645 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

$40 mill over several years among 22 individuals , that's peanuts ( well in the grand scheme of things ). However, there was a much bigger Central Bank- NNPC ( National Oil company ) Fraud established around 18 months ago and over a period of many years involving 10's of $billions.
Read that sackings took place but never followed up on the case. Expect though palms were greased to hush up the embarrassment.

All Central Bankers need offing.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:48 | 6157669 nmewn
nmewn's picture

"...six Nigerian central bankers were charged with fraud in an 8 billion naira ($40.2 million with an m..."

lol...no problem, they'll just print up 16 billion naira and buy off the judge ($80.4 million) ;-)

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 20:58 | 6157693 2muchtax
2muchtax's picture

I'd be surprised if they don't get a Nobel prize for economics.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 23:04 | 6157962 luckylogger
luckylogger's picture

I thought it was a perfect crime................

Good thing I dont live there as I would have been all in.......

what a fuking deal....

Gotta love it, I wonder if a finance degree and experiance trading forex is good enough to get on with the nigerian central bank??????????????????????????????????????

Where do I send me resume????????????????

Will li,knked in work?

Wed, 06/03/2015 - 00:19 | 6158107 falconflight
falconflight's picture

Nigerian Tulmudics,,,geez, the brand needs some work.

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