CBN to freeze 194 accounts of BDCs, other companies; Here’s why

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has secured series of court orders to freeze 194 bank accounts owned by Bureaux de Change and some firms. The CBN announced this in separate documents.

Presiding Judge, A.R. Mohammed, of the Federal High Court, Abuja division, signed off the motions exparte to restrict Bluebeam Capital Limited’s 60 accounts in 13 different banks.

The accounts spread across Access Bank which has eight accounts, First Bank and Ecobank has seven each, five each in UBA and GTBank, Fidelity Bank, FCMB house four of the accounts, alongside Sterling Bank.

Three are located in Polaris Bank and Wema Bank, while Heritage Bank has two; and one domiciled in Providus Bank, one of the documents released by the apex bank stated on Thursday, April 8, 2021.

Read also: CBN to freeze bank accounts of Belfour Oil and Gas, others for 45 days

Aside from Bluebeam Capital Limited’s account, the financial regulator also announced in another document that 84 accounts in 17 banks will be frozen after receiving the exparte.

It also disclosed in another statement that 50 accounts domiciled in different banks will be restricted for 45 days, although the CBN had requested for 180 days to conduct an investigation into the accounts for suspicious activities.

In the court papers seen by Ripples Nigeria, it was stated that, “Any person aggrieved by this order could apply to the court to have the order set aside, discharged or have the order reviewed upon good reasons without waiting for the 45 days to lapse.”

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