Spring Bank Debunks Fraud Allegations, CEO Has Fled Nowhere

The management of Spring Bank Plc has debunked fraud allegations against the current top  management of the bank.

Also, contrary to police allegation that the Group Managing Director of the bank, Mrs. Sola  Ayodele has fled to the United States of America, she is in Nigeria.

A newspaper report had recently alleged involvement of the Spring Bank new management in  fraud and economic crimes estimated at about N5.2 billion. The paper had stated that the  Federal Attorney General and the Justice Minister, Mr. Bello Adoke, has filed five charges  against the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Spring Bank Plc, Mrs. Sola  Ayodele and other management staff of the bank who were purported to have obtained the money  from a company, Strand Capital Partners Limited (SCPL).

But Spring Bank, in a statement by Igwe U. Igwe, head, Brand Management, debunked the fraud  allegations in its entirety, stating that there was no money in the SCPL account in the  first instance as to warrant a theft.

Rather, the bank said what is at issue is a long drawn criminal manipulation of facts by  SPCL and Secure Electronic Transactions Plc (formerly known as National Sports Lottery  (NSL)), two companies owned by the Kola Daisi family, to fraudulently obtain the sum of  N5.2bn from the vaults of the bank.

A matter filed by Spring Bank in 2009 seeking the payment of over N7bn indebtedness by NSL  is currently in the Federal High Court, Lagos Division before Justice Okechukwu Okeke and is  receiving due attention.

According to the statement, “the Suleyman Ndanusa-led interim management of the bank between  2007 and 2008 purportedly approved N5.2billion for Strand Capital, who were underwriters to  the failed NSL Initial Public Offer of 2008.

“However, the transaction was reversed by the Charles Ojo-led management under the Bank  PHB/Spring Bank acquisition exercise, on the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which  also ordered the termination of the transaction.

“The CBN directive was premised on the fact that the transaction did not follow due process  and clearly showed an abuse of Corporate Governance. A typical example of the illegality  perpetrated in the purported approval of the facility is the fact that a former General  Manager of Spring Bank, Dr. Tunji Sobodu, who facilitated the transaction was at the time,  also a director of Strand Capital.”

According to the bank, “the facilitation was also done in conjunction with the former  Treasurer of the bank, Dapo Adeyemi-Bajo, who now works with NSL. The purported approval of  the N5.2bn facility neither passed through the Management Credit Committee, the Board Credit  Committee nor the Interim Management Board at the time.”

The bank which has faulted the arraignment of the present GMD/CEO and other staff of the  bank, who were not party to the transaction, has already secured an order of court,  restraining the police from carrying out the threats of arrest.

Sources close to the bank disclosed that the management staff of Spring Bank mentioned in  the arraignment, have also alleged assassination threats on their lives after attempts to  induce them with several millions of naira to co-operate with NSL/SCPL in the release of  N5.2 billion failed.