Here is the story of Emmanuel Nwude who committed the largest fraud in Nigeria by
selling a non-existent airport to a Brazilian for $242 million between 1995 and 1998.
Emmanuel Nwude carried out one of the the biggest banking fraud in the world The rise of internet fraud commonly known
as 419 is one phenomenon Nigeria has come to be associated it. Before internet fraud became a global issue, Nwude had
committed one of the biggest scams in the world.
Specifically, his fraud was the third largest
banking scam in the world after the Nick
Leeson’s trading losses at Barings Bank, and
the looting of the Iraqi Central Bank by
Qusay Hussein.
How was Emmanuel Nwude able to carry
out this jaw-dropping scam and convince
Nelson Sakaguchi who was the director of
the bank to part with so much money for
the purchase of an airport?
Nwude was a former director of Union Bank
of Nigeria and this position made him privy
to some links, information and documents
that other persons would not be aware of.
He impersonated the then governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Paul Ogwuma, and
connected with Sakaguchi informing him of
a mouth-watering deal of Nigeria’s plan to
build an airport in Abuja.
Nwude, pretending to be the Central Bank of
Nigeria governor, told Sakaguchi that he
stood of chance of pocketing $10 million
commission when the deal passed through.
Sakaguchi paid $191 million in cash and the
remainder in the form of outstanding
interest.
Nwude’s accomplices were Emmanuel
Ofolue, Nzeribe Okoli, and Obum Osakwe,
along with the husband and wife duo,
Christian Ikechukwu Anajemba and Amaka
Anajemba, with Christian later being
assassinated.
The criminal gang was able to convince the
director of the Brazilian bank to part with
the money.
Nwude has become Nigeria’s fraud kingpin
after pulling off one of the biggest ‘deals’ in
history
How did Sakaguchi find out he was a victim
of one of the largest scam in the world?
In 1997, the Spanish Banco Santander
wanted to take over the Banco Noroeste
and a joint board meeting was held in
December of that year. Officials of the
Spanish bank noted that half of the Brazilian
bank’s capital was at Cayman Islands
unmonitored. This raised questions as this
was two-fifths of Noroeste’s total value.
Investigation began and was carried out in
Brazil, Britain, Nigeria, Switzerland, and the
United States. Although the sale of the Bank
still went on as the owners of the bank paid
$242 million bill, the nak still collapsed in
2001.
The birth of the EFCC
In 2002, the then president, Olusegun
Obasanjo saw to the establishment of an
anti-graft agency, the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Nwude’s
fraud case one of the first to be investigated
and in 2004, all members of the gang were
arraigned before an Abuja High Court on 86
counts of “fraudulently seeking advance
fees” and 15 counts of bribery related to the
case . Although they pleaded not guilty, they
were warned not to attempt to bribe court
officials as it was suspected that money was
going round.
In 2005, Amaka confessed to helping
Anajemba and was asked to repay $25.5
million and also sentenced to two and a half
years in prison.
