A major financial scandal has rocked SunTrust Bank Nigeria Limited, Halima Buba, its managing director, over an alleged $12 million fraud with controversial businesswoman Aisha Achimugu.
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Investigations reveal how the illicit transactions, allegedly traced to Aisha Achimugu—chief executive officer of FELAK CONCEPT GROUP—were orchestrated within the bank, raising serious questions about regulatory breaches, insider collusion, and the integrity of Nigeria’s banking sector.
Further fueling the controversy is the revelation that Achimugu and Buba have been long-time friends, a relationship that investigators believe may have facilitated the ease and boldness of the financial transactions under scrutiny.
Halima Buba, alongside the bank’s Executive Director and Chief Compliance Officer, Innocent Mbagwu, have been arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over the alleged fraud.
Buba was docked before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for the alleged crime.
The defendants are being prosecuted on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of $12 million (Twelve Million Dollars).
SunTrust Bank is a Nigerian financial services institution licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate as a commercial bank.
SunTrust Bank’s headquarters and main operational branch are situated at 1 Oladele Olashore Street, off Sanusi Fafunwa Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
As of December 31, 2017, the bank reported total assets of ₦26.56 billion (approximately US$74.24 million), and shareholders’ equity stood at ₦10.61 billion (approximately US$29.7 million).
SunTrust Bank was established in 2009 by its Chief Executive, Muhammad Jibrin Barde, initially operating as a mortgage bank. In November 2015, it was granted a regional commercial banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria making it the first bank to receive such a license since 2001.
