CBN freezes accounts belonging to Premier Lotto, 37 others over forex infractions

Bank accounts belonging to Premier Lotto, owned by Chief Adebutu Kensington, popularly called ‘Baba Ijebu’, have been ordered frozen by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over alleged forex infractions.

Premier Lotto, a betting company, joins 37 other companies, which included betting and logistics and bureau de change companies whose accounts the CBN instructed banks in the country to place a post-no-debit on.

According to a report by The Cable, the companies were being accused of forex infractions, moving forex abroad without the required authorisation and “economic sabotage.”

Sources qouted in the report revealed that one of the gaming companies moved $420m abroad under the guise of purchasing software but the funds were later traced to the foreign accounts of some of the directors of the company.

“The forex was sourced from the black market, thereby putting pressure on the exchange rate.

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“The gaming companies are awash with naira which sit in their bank accounts, so they devised a way of moving the funds abroad,” the report qouted a source as saying.

The CBN, in a September 4 memo signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Bello Hassan, said: “You are hereby required to place the under listed accounts on post-no-debit with immediate effect and revert with the account names, numbers, currencies and balances of all accounts placed on PND.”

The affected companies include Premier Lotto Limited, 3D Scanners Bureau De Change Limited, Blue Wall Nigeria Limited, JNFX International Limited and Northline Limited.

Others are SV Gaming Limited, R&S Lotto Limited, TM Gaming Networks Limited, Escale Oil and Gas Limited, Barkoli Trading Company Limited, Godoni Enterprises Limited.

According to the CBN, only the listed companies should be placed on PND, while other related accounts are to be excluded.

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