A former Nigerian bank chief accused of taking part in corruption blamed for helping cause a financial crisis turned himself in on Wednesday after returning from Britain, an official said.
Erastus Akingbola, ex-chief executive of Intercontinental Bank, faces money laundering charges and was being questioned in custody, said Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for Nigeria’s anti-graft agency. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Charges had been filed against Akingbola in absentia since he has not been in Nigeria since last year.
Of the amount involved in the alleged fraudulent dealings, “27 billion naira (137 million euros, 180 million dollars) has been established,” Babafemi said.
Authorities allege that “part of it went into his account in the UK,” he said.
The central bank removed a list of executives from their jobs at financial institutions, including Akingbola, in 2009 in a bid to clean up the banking sector. It also announced a 600-billion-naira bailout for eight banks.
A number of banks were accused of setting up companies to hand out dubious loans.
In some cases, the loans were allegedly used to manipulate share prices, while private jets and estates were also purchased, the central bank chief has said.
The effects of the global financial crisis and oil price volatility, among others factors, also contributed to Nigeria’s banking woes, and the country’s stock market fell by 70 percent in 2008-2009.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and the world’s eighth largest oil exporter, is establishing a “bad bank” that would remove up to 21 billion dollars in deadbeat loans from banks’ balance sheets.