Akingbola was paid N40bn for bank shares – Witness

A stock broking firm, Tropics Securities Limited, belonging to former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc (now Access Bank Plc), Erastus Akingbola, was paid about N40bn when in 2008 the bank bought some of its own shares for its customers.

Former Financial Controller of the bank, Mr. Akin Fabunmi, said this on Monday at a Lagos High Court in Ikeja, while testifying as the fourth defence witness in the ongoing trial of Akingbola alongside the General Manager of Tropics Finance Limited, Mr. Bayo Dada.

Tropics Securities Limited is a subsidiary of Tropics Finance  in which Akingbola and his wife, Anthonia, have interest and are also signatories to its accounts.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had charged Akingbola and Dada with the theft of about N47.1bn belonging to the bank.

Fabunmi, who was led in evidence at the Monday’s proceedings by Akingbola’s counsel, Felix Fagbohungbe, SAN, said a total of N179bn was paid to different stock brokers used by the bank to buy its own shares for its customers.

According to Fabunmi, apart from Tropics Securities, other companies which were also paid from the N179bn in 2009 included a subsidiary of the bank, Intercontinental Securities Management Limited, Summit Financial Company Limited.

He said, “Though there are many stockbrokers used to purchase the shares, there are three major  ones among them. They are the Intercontinental Securities Management Limited, Summit Finance Company Limited, and Tropics Securities Limited and Tropics securities Limited in which Akingbola has interest.

“The total amount of N179bn was paid from the Time Deposit Account of the bank. N40bn was paid to Tropics Finance.

“I got to know that the bank’s shares were bought for the customers of the bank from the CSCS statement of account. I sighted the CSCS statements of account for the payments for ISML and Summit Finance, but I could not sight the CSCS statements of account for about N18.6bn of the N40bn paid to Tropics Securities.” Punch News