Detectives are probing fresh clues on the alleged diversion of public funds to pay 23,000 ghost workers.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was shocked to discover that most of the slush accounts used for the pay fraud have either irregular Bank Verification Number (BVN) or no BVN at all, it was learnt yesterday.
The fresh clue raises the suspicious that the pay fraud cases may be more than the N1billion so far uncovered by the EFCC.
Some civil servants were said to have fled from their duty posts following the smashing of the syndicate behind the ghost workers.
More workers might be picked up in the next few days by the anti-graft agency, a source close to the investigation said.
A top source in EFCC said: “The fact that the commission’s investigation revealed additional 200 ghost workers indicates that the size of the scam could be more than what the ministry reported. The amount involved is certainly more than N1 billion.
“The latest clues at our disposal have shown that more civil servants were involved in the IPPIS scandal. We are analysing all these fresh clues.
“We are also on the trail of most of the culprits and their accomplices outside the civil service.”
“It is amazing how the members of the syndicate were able to penetrate the banks to perpetrate the fraud,” the source added, adding:
“It is apparent that members of the syndicate were working in collaboration with some staff of one or two banks.
“We are, however, conducting due diligence on all the accounts to sift the wheat from the chaff. In fact, some of the accounts made available by the Ministry of Finance do not belong to ghost workers. We will not allow the innocent to suffer.”
The EFCC has released on bail Ronke Usman, one of those implicated in the alleged ghost workers fraud.
She has been granted bail pending the conclusion of the investigation. But her husband, Dayo Usman Aliyu, is still being detained.”
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun recently summoned the managing director of a first generation bank over the alleged complicity of the bank in the payment of salaries to 23,000 ghost workers on the payroll of the Federal Government.
Also, the Minister asked the Director General of Pension Commission, Ms Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, to appear before a probe panel in her ministry on how Pension Funds Administrators(PFAs) allegedly generated fake PFA numbers for the “ghost workers”.
After the initial probe by the ministry, the Minister handed over the case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In its preliminary findings, the EFCC smashed a nine-man syndicate behind N1billion salary fraud for 599 ghost workers.
The anti-graft agency also arrested the couple said to be members of the syndicate.
The couple work in the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, where gaps in the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System(IPPIS) were exploited.
Another suspected member of the syndicate, Bede Anyanwu, who is an accountant with the Federal Ministry of Environment, was quizzed and released on administrative bail.
