The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has alerted commercial banks about fake naira notes amounting to a whopping sum of $1 billion (about N925 billion) coming into Nigeria from abroad.
The high-level warning was issued by the CBN to commercial banks and other financial institutions regarding a potential $1 billion counterfeit currency operation targeting Africa in a confidential memo dated August 23, 2023.
The Economy gathered that the CBN revealed its investigation into the matter, which involves a Nigerian individual and several foreign nationals.
The memo, signed by Chibuzo Efobi, the Director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department, was titled “Administrative Letter to Banks and Other Financial Institutions: Arrest of Nigerian and Four Nationals for Alleged Involvement in Currency Counterfeiting.”
According to the memo, Turkish authorities apprehended these suspects, including a Nigerian named Dele Bolade Samson, who held both Nigerian and Swedish passports. The other individuals involved were Ghanaian Kean Kwasi Arhin, a Briton, Netanel Kakob Weiss, and two Swedish nationals.
The CBN memo stated that, in accordance with Regulation 4 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and Countering Proliferation Financing of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Financial Institutions) Regulations, 2022, financial institutions are required to take immediate actions.
These actions include searching their databases for information related to the mentioned individuals, checking for any accounts or funds associated with them, and reporting any suspicious transactions to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Financial institutions should also submit NIL reports to the NFIU if they have no relevant records.
Meanwhile, a video has surfaced on social media depicting a Nigerian man demonstrating how to create counterfeit N1,000 notes using a plasma card and specialized equipment. The video, originally posted on TikTok, has gained widespread attention and sparked discussions among Nigerians. It has garnered thousands of comments and reactions on the social media platform.
