EFCC Moves Against Top JAMB Directors Over N8 Billion Fraud

Benue cashier who blamed snakes for swallowing cash, names real culprit Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor Abuja:

Detectives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, are closing in on top officials of the Joint Matriculations Board, JAMB, allegedly fingered in the diversion of over N8 billion revenue between 2010 and 2015.

The EFCC operatives and Vanguard on Saturday night learnt that the said fraudulent officials had already been indicted by a body raised by the federal government to look into the finances of the education body in the last six years following the superlative returns made to the government by the current JAMB board led by Prof Ishaq Oloyede.

The examination is said to have failed to remit the huge cash to the government within the period under review. 

The amount includes unremitted Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax. 

However, following the unprecedented remittance of N7.8 billion to the Federal Government by the Ishaq Oloyede- led management of the examination body, the federal Government, working on the suspicion that the previous management had defrauded the federation of billions in unremitted revenues, had ordered a forensic audit of the accounts of JAMB from 2010 to 2015.

Sources informed that the report of the forensic audit committee was turned some months ago and subsequently forwarded to the EFCC by the minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, for criminal investigation.

Following the submission of the audit report, the Commission set up a crack investigative panel to review the report and take further investigative steps to bring indicted culprits to book. 

An EFCC source disclosed that the panel has taken the report through a fine tooth comb.

“ We are looking at a number of accounts with suspicious inflows and outflows. “From the detailed analyses of the accounts, we have identified a few officers that would help our investigations because funds have been traced to their accounts.

 Very soon, we will be inviting them for questioning. “Among the officers that we may invite are a serving director and a retired director of the examination body”, the source said. 

Meanwhile, the anti-graft agency is set to prosecute a number of officers of JAMB already indicted in the investigation around the loss of revenues from sale of scratch cards by some of the state offices of the examination body.

Among the staff that may be arraigned in court any moment from now is an official based in Makurdi, Philomina Chieshe, who claimed that a snake swallowed N36m. 

The money was part of the proceeds of the sale of scratch cards.

Chieshe who was arrested months back by the EFCC allegedly told interrogators that the money was collected in installments from her by her Coordinator, Mr. Samuel Umoru. 

She claimed that the coordinator usually asked her to withdraw proceeds of the sale of the cards from her account in two banks.

“The money I withdrew, the coordinator used it for the office and some time for himself,” she said.

  source: Vanguard