FG slams charges against Skye Bank Ex-Top Executives, 2 firms over N25.3b diversion

Angered by the way in which the fortunes of the defunct Skye Bank were plundered by insider players, the Federal Government has slammed the former Chairman of the Bank, Tunde Ayeni and its former Managing Director with a ten-count charge bordering on money laundering and illegal transfer of cash. 

   Chairman, Dr. Olatunde Ayeni, and    Managing Director/Chief Executive    Officer, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo

In all, as much as N25.3 billion cash was allegedly taken out of the defunct bank by the key players, a development, many believed contributed to the financial distress of the bank and its eventual fall.

From court papers sighted by Saturday Vanguard in a suit lodged at the Federal High Court Abuja by the Federal government with Ref. No FHC/ABj/CR/37/2019, Ayeni is accused of receiving cash from the bank to the tune of N21.1 billion out of the total amount the government is contending was illegally diverted from the bank.

While Ayeni is said to have personally received N17.4 billion and another N3.7 billion from officials of the dead bank, the balance is said to have been diverted by him and the Managing Director of the bank, Timothy Oguntayo, to two firms-Control Dredging Limited and Royaltex Ventures Limited.

The federal government, which filed the charges through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on February 18, 2019, believes the huge cash was however laundered by the suspects and wants them to account for it.

For that reason, the EFCC has lined up four officials of the defunct bank and two others from First City Monument Bank as well as its operatives who conducted discreet investigation into the looting, as witnesses against the respondents, although no date has been set for the commencement of trial. One of the charges reads: “That you Tunde Ayeni, while being the chairman Board of Directors of the defunct Skye Bank Plc and Timothy Ajani Oguntayo while being the Managing Director of the same bank on or about 24th of December 2014 at Abuja within the Abuja Judicial Division of this Honourable Court did conspire to commit an offence to wit: 

money laundering by transferring the sum of N3billion from the defunct bank suspense account to First City Monument Bank No. 0758662025 of Control Dredging Limited which money you reasonably out to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: fraud and thereby commit an offence contrary to Section 18 (a) and punishable under section 15(2) (b) and (3) of the Money laundering (prohibition) Act 2011 as amended”.