Nigerian Man Takes $500,000 Cash to Deposit in a Bank, Causes Stirs

A Nigerian man caused a stir in one of the new-generation banks when he went to deposit $500,000, approximately N200 million. The picture of the unidentified man circulated on social media has left many asking ‘God when.

A breach of Money Laundering Act?

The picture was taken in an unknown bank in Nigeria and has left many bewildered about why such an amount of dollars would be hoarded or kept by an individual.

It is not clear if the person had violated the money laundering act as Nigeria grapples with dollar scarcity which previously led to the crash of the naira. Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria reportedly pulled $1.8 billion from the external reserves to shore up forex liquidity, leading to a decline of the reserves.

One person responded: “Don’t envy him. Do you know if he might be a kidnapper, terrorist or bandit? They are the ones rolling in ransom dollars now” 

Another said: “Continue to pretend. The money you asked someone to deposit into your Dorm account and instructed him to send pictorial evidence of payment.”

The recent glut of dollars in the market has been identified as the reason for the sudden appreciation of the naira. Analysts believe that many who hoarded the dollar in or converted their naira into dollars are flooding the markets with the US greenback.

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Abbas Yishau, a journalist with Radio Now in Kano, told Legit.ng that many hoarders are scared that some denominations of dollar bills beyond certain dates will be rejected.

According to Yishau, the rumour that the US cautioned that some of its denominations printed on certain years, especially those below 2021, won’t be accepted has spurred many into flooding the markets with the dollar. A currency trader in Lagos, Ishaya Abdul, said that currently, there are so many dollars in the market. He said many forex traders are disposing of the dollars as the purported threats by the US swirl around. He said:

“What is happening now is that most FX traders are releasing the dollars they have hoarded in the past. Right now, the dollar is crashing very fast.”

If there will be any time the naira will fall, Abdul said the current move by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign banknotes is also partly why many are dumping the dollar and the naira in the market.

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Abdul said:

“After the CBN is done with the naira redesign, we will likely see the naira stabilise again. Already, the naira is devalued by CBN, so the sudden strength is probably artificial,” Abdul said.

The CBN has set December 15, 2022, as the date for introducing new naira notes and January 31, 2023, as the date for the cessation of old naira notes.

Claims the US would reject dollar bills below 2021 in 2023 is untrue

Legit.ng reported that the news comes amid fears that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to redesign certain banknotes denominations and render old ones useless and unacceptable by the end of January 2023. Due to the plans by the apex banks, there is a frantic rush for the US dollar as more Nigerians, especially those who have hoarded the local currency, seek to exchange them for the US dollar. According to the news, the US government has warned Nigerians and other nationals that it would not accept older dollar bills below certain years, especially the ones printed in 2021.