THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) confirmed yesterday that that it was closing in on some former and present senior staff of the Joint Matriculations Board (JAMB) implicated in an alleged N8 billion deal.
An employee of the organisation, Philomina Chieshe, who claimed that a snake swallowed N36 million revenue from scratch cards, is among those slated for trial.
Some of the affected former and present directors of JAMB may also be invited soon by the anti-graft commission.
The handover of the top management staff to the EFCC followed an audit report which alleged that JAMB failed to remit revenue in excess of N8 billion to the Federal Government between 2010 and 2015.
The alleged fraud sum includes unremitted Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax.
The Federal Government, according to sources, was surprised that the new management of JAMB, led by Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, remitted N7.8 billion to the treasury in contrast to the poor showing of the agency between 2010 and 2015.
Based on the development, the government “ordered a forensic audit of the accounts of JAMB from 2010 to 2015.
A top source in EFCC said: “The report of the forensic audit committee was turned in some months ago and subsequently forwarded to the EFCC by the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, for criminal investigation.
“Following the submission of the audit report, the commission set up a crack investigative panel to review the report and take further investigative steps to bring indicted culprits to book.
“We are looking at a number of accounts with suspicious inflows and outflows.
“From the detailed analyses of the accounts, we have identified a few officers that would help our investigations because funds have been traced to their accounts.
“Very soon, we will be inviting them for questioning.
“Among the officers that we may invite are a serving director and a retired director of the examination body.”
The Nation gathered that the anti-graft agency will prosecute a number of officers of JAMB over the loss of revenues from sale of scratch cards by some of the state offices of the examination body.
Another source said: “Among the staff that may be arraigned in court any moment from now is an official based in Makurdi, Philomina Chieshe, who claimed that a snake swallowed N36 million
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