Multibillion dollar FX fraud: Olam Nigeria pays ₦1billion bail bond to secure release of director

Olam Nigeria Limited has paid a huge bail bond of N1billion to secure the release of one of its directors, Prakash Kanth.

The payment was made into a special recovery account operated by the State Security Service, SSS.

Other top executives of the company have reportedly fled the country in the wake of the arrest of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and his accomplices.

Insiders told our reporter that the SSS requested the humongous bail bond because of the gravity of the allegations against the company and the amount involved.

A payment slip seen by this newspaper showed that the money was paid into a Treasury Single Account, TSA, domiciled at Access Bank on Monday.

Another document also showed that one of Olam’s many subsidiaries, Micro Feed Nigeria Limited, Lagos, paid the money “in connection with the ongoing investigation of money laundering involving Prakash Kanth.”

Mr Kanth, who spent days in the SSS detention facility in Abuja, is Olam’s director of Corporate Affairs and Legal in Nigeria.

It was previously reported that the SSS opened probe into Olam’s multibillion dollar FX deals from 2015 to date.

The Nigerian secret police is also requesting from Olam evidence of payment of tax, corporate tax income, VAT, export proceeds and capital importation by the company and its subsidiaries during the period under review.

The SSS also requested from the company an analysis of all forex outflows from 2015 to date, showing commercial banks involved and the beneficiaries of the forex and the Bureau de Change, BDC license issued to Olam Nigeria Limited or any of its subsidiaries.

The service also requested records of the company’s expatriate quota; list of the approved expatriates and; particulars of serving and former MDs, CFOs and financial controllers of the company, including their names, addresses and countries of residence.

Although Olam had countered the story, denying wrongdoing in a statement on Monday, security sources and FX players said the company had questions to answer regarding forex fraud.