First Bank of Nigeria has released N160,000 belonging to Ekini White Tulip Consulting Limited, a consulting firm, three years after the money was withheld because of a Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) clearance certificate issue.
FIJ had earlier reported on August 13 that the bank had restricted the consulting company’s bank account in 2021. But Tunde Oyeniran, the company’s chief executive officer, presented the SCUML certificate the bank wanted on July 17, 2024. Yet, First Bank raised another issue about Oyeniran’s company’s registration status with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
A few days after FIJ’s report, the bank reached out to Oyeniran and issued him a banker’s cheque with which he transferred out the money.
READ MORE: First Bank Restricted Company’s Account Because of SCUML. 3 Years Later, SCUML Is Ready but Account Isn’t Reactivated
“Two or three days after you published the story, I got a call from someone who said she was actually the manager of First Bank, Akowonjo branch. She said that the person I talked with earlier was the operations manager,” Oyeniran said.
The manager sustained the conversation with Oyeniran for days persuading him to contact the CAC to rectify the disparity the bank saw, but he maintained he was not open to that as the same CAC certificate had been used to open some other bank accounts without any problem.
“She apologised profusely and then asked me about what transpired. I explained. She also asked for what I wanted, and I told her: my money, and if possible business relationship, provided I did not have to go to CAC.
“She called back the same day like 3 times, and at least twice daily for the next three working days. She offered for us to meet; we live in the same neighbourhood.
“I told her meeting her would not serve any purpose, as the matter is not a personal matter. She even called during the weekend. All through last week there were back and forth.
READ ALSO: First Bank Withholds Dead Customer’s Balance Over Strange Loan
“She suggested I should go to CAC and ‘rectify’ the error. She offered to find me a lawyer, and I asked who was going to pay, and that I really did not have time to waste on that matter anymore, having kept my money for that long. So I have retrieved my money.”
Thanking FIJ, Oyeniran said, “I cannot thank FIJ enough. I am pretty sure without you, this would not have been possible.”
Oyeniran said that he formally wrote the bank to close the account after withdrawing his money from it.
The post After FIJ’s Story, First Bank Releases Company’s N160,000 Held Because of SCUML appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.