The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, denied investigating Ecobank Nigeria and Ecobank Transnational Inc. Specialized Resolutions Company (ETISRC) for alleged extortion.
The apex bank in a statement said contrary to claims that Ecobank is under investigation for extortion, the institution is being probed over claims of abusive proceedings and communications against Wilben Trade Limited and its CEO, Marcus Wade.
According to the statement titled, “Central Bank of Nigeria Investigating Allegations of Extortion at Ecobank Nigeria”, the apex bank said the investigation is a sequel to two years of legal disputes over accusations of fraud made by Ecobank and ETISRC against Wilben and Wade.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched an investigation into Ecobank Nigeria (ENG) and Ecobank Transnational Inc. Specialized Resolutions Company (ETISRC) following claims of abusive proceedings and communications against Wilben Trade (Wilben), and its CEO, Marcus Wade,” the statement reads.
It added that the CBN’s investigation comes after two years of legal wrangling relating to false accusations of fraud made against Wilben and Mr Wade by ETISP and ENG.
“In 2022, ENG (through ETISRC) filed criminal charges over a less suffered by ENG in 2014/15 against Wilben and its CEO Marcus Wade. The actors of ENG and ETISRC have caused significant financial and reputational damage to Wilben.
“ENG’s losses resulted from a transaction with its existing customer, Agrico Agbe Limited and associate company Little Rose Trading LLC. After attempts to recover losses from the original customers failed, ETISRC tried to recover them from Mr Wade and Wilben instead,” it stated.
The CBN said that Wilben had only acted as an intermediary at Ecobank’s request in the business transaction between Ecobank and Agrico Agbe Limited, ETISRC’s pursuit of them was unfounded.
