TR EMERITUS

On Friday 8 Sep 2023, The Daily Nigerian reported an exclusive on State Security Services (SSS) investigating a massive US$50b economic fraud involving Olam Nigeria Limited, Olam International and their nine subsidiaries.

The Daily Nigerian:

In a chain of round-tripping foreign exchange deals since 2015, the company, through its Special Purpose Vehicles, SPVs, had booked about $34 billion with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as capital importation at official rates.

But instead of investing the money into the Nigerian economy, sources said the company round-tripped the forex and sold to business men, especially oil and gas marketers and industries such Indorama and Fouani, at parallel market rates.

This news have been peddled around online in Nigeria and it seems The Daily Nigerian is the single original source. On Sep 11 Olam Group Singapore has spoken out [LINK]. It refuted the report as fake news, that there was no investigation of their operation in Nigeria, that Olam Nigeria never has the huge turnover anywhere near US$50b.

Everyone has got it wrong – The Daily Nigerian, Olam Singapore, and just about everyone who has pushed the story. SSS was not investigating Olam Nigeria. It was investigating Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Is it possible Olam Nigeria’s infraction came to light in the course of the investigation into the central bank? And is it possible there is fraudulent implication on Olam in a manner their auditor and Singapore HQ is unable to detect? To explore this possibility, we have to understand what is The Daily Nigerian claim of ‘round tripping’ all about.

Godwin Emefiele took office of Governor of CBN in June 2014. USD/NGN was relatively stable from 2009 to Oct 2014 at about 160s level. With decline in oil revenues, Nigerian naira had been under pressure for years. Under Godwin Emefiele, CBN’s effort to shore up the naira had depleted the country’s foreign reserves, brought on high inflation and deficit trade balances. Nigeria had to deal with a massive foreign currency liquidity problem. CBN resorted to hotchpot brew of monetary policies that bordered on FX controls in one form or another. One of Godwin’s initiative was to have exporters price their products in foreign currencies designed to increase inflow of hard cash.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with capital controls, a dual system soon evolved – an official interbank rate controlled by the central bank and a black market rate. CBN maintained stability by keeping the rate within a secretive wide band resulting in rising interest rates. Lack of liquidity soon widened the rate disparities between interbank and black market rates. At some point, the difference could be has high as 100%. It was a situation ripe for the financially creative movers and shakers. If one can buy foreign currencies from interbank and sell in the black market, massive FX profits are possible.

Olam Nigeria Plc was set up in 1989 in London by the Indian Kewalram Chanrai Group. It was originally meant to export non-oil based products of Nigeria to amass hard currency earnings to meet the foreign exchange requirements of the group’s other operations in Nigeria. Soon Olam’s agri-business and commodities trading itself became a huge success story and moved way beyond it’s original mission.

With Nigerian products priced in foreign currencies, exporters like Olam bring in much needed hard currencies into the Nigerian banking system thus helping to provide liquidity to meet importers’ needs. That was the basic idea. Exporters convert the foreign currencies at official rates from banks and obtain nairas for their local needs.

Instead of selling at the interbank FX market, if exporters can sell in the black market at much higher rates, substantial gains can be made. Capital control involves substantial form filing, registration, permits and reporting. Exporters have no choice but sell their foreign currencies interbank and receive nairas at official rates, in accordance with FX control regulations. Now, with collaboration of CBN and commercial bank personnel, arrangements could be made for the bank to sell back to controlled shell entities which can then sell in the black market and make huge gains. This is the ‘round tripping’ The Daily Nigerian was referring to. Under such a scheme, Olam Nigeria would have received nairas at the official rate and auditors would be none the wiser as all proceeds would be accounted for. The sell back by bank to shell companies involved no one within Olam thus would have gone unnoticed. The exchange profits would be massive enough to split amongst the collaborators including the controlled shell entities. Olam Singapore has denied having any “network of shell companies”. But what if Olam Singapore HQ is not privy to the scheme, they would remain as blissfully unaware as the auditors.

I am not saying that actually happened, but certainly is not to be discounted. All FX capital control are inefficient systems which sooner or latter is subject to exploitation.

Is there any evidence of such shenanigans going on? Yes indeed. Central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele was under investigation by SSS in 2022 for terrorism funding. By Dec 2022 SSS was unable to indict Emefiele for terrorism funding. That investigation had placed the entire central bank’s operations and activities of its top officials under intense scrutiny. A CBN staff member Mrs Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro have been charged for various corrupt acts including money laundering. Her account at a Zenith bank has been identified as a conduit for moving illegal funds. She has been charged together with Emefiele for corrupt procurement contracts. She is the wife of Alhaji Aminu Yaro, leader of Hausa tribe of Lagos, who is a long time good friend of Emefiele. There are reports of Nigeria’s anti-corruption body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, having uncovered massive bank balances in Mrs Yaro’s accounts that are conduits for FX differential fraud facilitated by Emefiele who has been suspended and under arrest on 9 June. It seems Mrs Yaro is Emefiele’s bagman in FX differential fraud schemes.

The investigation into CBN is a big deal as Nigeria is the largest African economy, and 30th in the world. Whilst it as been all quiet on the Eastern Front with denials of wrong doing by Olam Singapore, the arrest of the CBN Governor and the decision by the new government to put the naira on free float in June saw the Nigerian currency collapse from 461 to 820 to the USD within a week. The black market rate is currently about 940 to the dollar.

President Bola Tinubu, who came to office on 29 May 2023, inherited an economic mess. Tinubu came with a good reputation as a competent Governor of Lagos state from 1999 – 2007. He has advised his countrymen they need to bite the bullet as he implements painful reforms and anti-corruption drives.

Are Tinubu’s acts politically driven? Even if it isn’t, his political foes will claim it is. As it is, the arrest of tribal leader Yaro is already on dangerous grounds. Emefiele himself had political ambitions and had joined the party of the preceding President Muhammadu Buhari. There is in fact some suggestion that rumours of Tinubu having amassed a warehouse full of cash for the 2023 elections motivated Emefiele to take CBN on a failed attempt to implement Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) called e-naira, concurrently with a new currency. The demonetization attempt failed and had the same consequences as India’s Modi infamy. Only 40% of the population had mobile phones killed the idea of a cashless economy before it even started. Very little new currencies were printed in anticipation of a cashless economy led to the demonetisation project causing financial turmoil as people had no access to cash. It caused great hardship and riots in banks and streets. As a consequence Emeciele faced charges of economic terrorism. President Buhari distanced himself from Emeciele and SSS started investigations into CBN. Throughout all the problems, IMF and WEF prodded Emeciele with the CBDC project. The globalists would have loved Nigeria’s CBDC to propel the whole of Africa to go cashless.

Singapore Trade Development Board enticed Olam to relocate from London to Singapore in 1996. Olam International Limited was incorporated in Singapore on 4 July 1995 as a public limited company for this purpose. The sweetener was a concessionary tax rate of 10%, further reduced to 5% in 2004.

Olam Group is headquartered in Singapore and listed on the SGX. Temasek once had 80% controlling ownership but has divested down to current 54%. The infractions went back to 2015 when Ho Ching held responsibility over Temasek.

It does not seem this latest massive fraud case has been processed by investors in Singapore up to this point. The market is in fact in high expectations of the US$1b Olam’s agri-unit IPO some time early 2024. Will the collapse of the Nigerian Naira bear down on the IPO or will investment gurus still put out buy advices.

Patrick Low

* Article first appeared on Down The Rabbit Hole.

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