Emefiele’s wife declared wanted over alleged fraud

Emefiele’s wife declared wanted over alleged fraud

Margaret Emefiele, wife of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has been declared wanted.

The Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) says she is wanted alongside a CBN official, Eric Odoh, a businesswoman, Anita Omoile, and a Bureau De Change operator, Jonathan Omoile.

A statement issued by the commission on Friday said they were declared wanted for allegedly conspiring with Emefiele to convert huge sums of money belonging to the Federal Government.

The wife of the former CBN boss reportedly went into hiding after her husband was arrested and charged to court.

The anti-graft agency also released the suspects’ mugshot on its website and social media handles.

The statement read in part, “Emefiele, Odoh, Mr and Mrs Omoile, wanted by the EFCC. The quartet of Eric Odoh, Margaret Emefiele, Anita Omoile and Jonathan Omoile are wanted by the EFCC for offences bothering on economic and financial crimes.

“Any information on their whereabouts? Please contact the nearest EFCC command or the nearest police station,”

Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on June 9, 2023, leading to his arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) in Lagos.

He was later transferred to Abuja and moved to custody of the EFCC, which arraigned him on money laundering and fraud charges.

After some weeks, Tinubu named Jim Obazee as the Special Investigator to probe the apex bank under Emefiele’s watch.

In his report to the president, Obazee had, among other allegations, accused Emefiele of opening 593 foreign bank accounts without approval of either President Muhammadu Buhari or CBN’s board of directors.

The investigator disclosed that the accounts were in different banks in the United Kingdom, the United States and China,.