By Adedapo Adesanya
Singapore’s Olam Group has said its investigation team did not find any evidence that its Nigerian subsidiary was involved in an alleged multi-billion Dollar foreign exchange fraud.
It said on Monday, February 19 that a review has turned up no evidence that its Nigerian unit was involved in the $50 billion fraud as reported by some media outlets late last year.
Recall that in September 2023, two local media The Daily Nigerian and Prime Business Africa reported that the Department of State Security (DSS) was investigating the company’s units, Olam Nigeria and Olam International, and their associate companies for a more than $50 billion FX fraud.
They also said Olam allegedly funnelled $34 billion into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its special purpose vehicles as capital importation at official rates, before round-tripping the foreign exchange by selling to other businesses at parallel market rates.
Responding to these allegations in the same month, Olam said references to the sums of $50 billion and another $34 billion were “manifestly inaccurate and designed to be misleading.”
Although the Nigerian authorities didn’t make public any investigation procedures, its board nonetheless directed the audit and risk committee (ARC) to conduct an internal review of the matter.
The group added that all its businesses in Nigeria “continue to operate normally” despite the allegations.
“Olam regards Nigeria as an important part of its future strategic plan, and it will continue to seek future opportunities to grow its business there. Olam will also continue to further strengthen its governance and compliance in Nigeria.”
Olam said its review was led by an investigation team comprising Olam’s ARC, external counsels and independent external accountants.
“Olam Nigeria has cooperated fully with the Nigerian authorities and assisted in their inquiry. No charges were brought against Olam Nigeria or any of its officers by the Nigerian authorities,” stated Olam.
