The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission has smashed a syndicate that specializes in diverting funds
from the account of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
The EFCC also grilled a JAMB official
based in Makurdi, Philomina Chieshe, who claimed that a snake swallowed
N36m which was part of the proceeds of the sale of scratch cards.
Detectives at the commission told our
correspondent that Chieshe revealed that the money was collected in installments from her by her Coordinator, Mr. Samuel Umoru.
In one of the statements she volunteered
to the EFCC, Chieshe who is a clerk in the Makurdi office of JAMB, was
said to have revealed that the coordinator usually asked her to withdraw
proceeds of the sale of the cards from her account in two banks.
It was learnt that before the advent of
the Treasury Single Accounts, the practice at the time was for JAMB
officials to keep the proceeds of the sale of cards in unauthorized bank
accounts which led to the loss of billions of naira.
In the statement she made to the EFCC
under oath, Chieshe said, “This money that I withdraw, the coordinator
used it for the office and some time for himself.”
She claimed that she had been warning
Umaru that it was improper to use the money for miscellaneous expenses
in the office or for private purposes but he would not listen.
The suspect also claimed that Umoru was
in the habit of drawing IOUs from the proceeds of the sale of the cards
without reimbursing her.
Some of the withdrawals which she
claimed were at the behest of the coordinator included the N340,000
withdrawn on May 5 and 26, 2014 with an ATM card.
She also disclosed that she used her ATM card to withdraw N120,000 for the coordinator between June 17 and 18, 2014.
Chieshe added, “He instructed me to withdraw the sum of N640,000 using my card between June 30, 2014 and July 7, 2014.”
Sources close to the EFCC disclosed that
the investigating team had verified the withdrawals after a careful
analysis of the statements of account of the suspect.
It was learnt that Umaru had also been arrested and questioned about claims by Chieshe.
He was, however, released on administrative bail.
An EFCC source said, “The interesting
aspect of the disclosure is that Chieshe’s statement was obtained long
before the snake and naira swallowing testimony became public knowledge.
“She was first quizzed on February 16, 2017 and made additional statements on April 7, 2017 , May 30, 2017 and June 28, 2017.
“In all her statements before the EFCC,
there was no mention of any episode of any snake and the disappearance
of monies in her care.”
The EFCC also quizzed another JAMB
official, Tanko Labaran, the clerk in Nasarawa State office of the board
who could not account for scratch cards worth N23m.
He allegedly claimed the cards given to
him were lost in a car accident. According to Labaran, he had an
accident on his way from the head office with cards and the vehicle
caught fire.
The suspect also had a police report to back the claim.
But a source at the EFCC said
investigation so far indicated that the cards which were supposedly
destroyed in the accident were used judging by evidence secured from the
JAMB information database.
“The serial numbers of the cards and the
telephone numbers of the users were captured by the JAMB information
system,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the EFCC has also quizzed
another officer from the Gombe State office of JAMB for failure to
account for N20m worth of cards.
During interrogation, he claimed not to
have received any cards, that his signature on the letter transferring
the cards to him was forged.
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