FG moves to seize BVN-less accounts
Judge Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal Supreme Court in Abuja accepted a request from the Federation Attorney General Abubakar Malami for the temporary confiscation of all funds held in bank accounts not linked to BVN. Customers place banks as the BVN registration deadlines expire. Funds are also lost in
accounts whose property could not be identified. The latter are accounts without sufficient credentials of know-your-customer, reported PREMIUM TIMES. . The order followed a motion of notification lodged by Mr. Malami on behalf of the Nigerian government on 28 September. Judge Dimgba granted the nine reliefs sought by Mr. Malami, represented by an attorney, Usman Dakas, on October 17. the court ordered all 19 DMB banks operating in the country to disclose to Nigerian governments the names of accounts not yet connected with BVN; account numbers; their outstanding balances; local addresses; and home accounts without BVN and where they are domiciled. Nigeria deposits money banks that were listed as defendants in the ex parte lawsuit are: Bank Access, Citi Bank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank and First City Monument Bank. Others are: Guaranty Trust Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank and United Bank for Africa. The remaining three are: Unity, Bank Wema Bank and Zenith Bank. The court also ordered all of them to disclose any investment made with funds and retain authorization for any funds entry of the accounts. All details should be sent to the NIBSS and the CBN for authentication. The banks were also ordered to publish all bank accounts not linked to BVN in national newspapers with a 14-day notice for people with interests in such accounts to come forward and justify why their funds should not be confiscated from the Nigerian government . Mr. Dimgba also ordered the CBN, which joined as the 20th respondent along with the 19 DMBs, to appoint an official who will examine all details submitted to apex bank for compliance. The government argued the matter under Section 3 of the Money Laundering Act, 2011. The section says that banks must "ensure that documents, data or information collected under the customer due diligence process are kept up to date and relevant when conducting reviews of existing records, especially for categories of customers or higher-risk business relationships. " The Bank Verification Number is a unique identification number that can be verified and used to conduct business transactions on all banking platforms in Nigeria. The CBN imposed the policy to capture customer data for financial transactions and control fraud in the banking system. Registration for BVN began on February 14, 2014 throughout the country. The CBN said that more than 20.8 million customers registered 40 million bank accounts by October 31, 2015, the deadline for customers residing in the country. The CBN extended the deadline for Nigerians in the diaspora until December 2016 to enroll in the BVN system. But it is still believed that hundreds of thousands of people are left at home and abroad.
accounts whose property could not be identified. The latter are accounts without sufficient credentials of know-your-customer, reported PREMIUM TIMES. . The order followed a motion of notification lodged by Mr. Malami on behalf of the Nigerian government on 28 September. Judge Dimgba granted the nine reliefs sought by Mr. Malami, represented by an attorney, Usman Dakas, on October 17. the court ordered all 19 DMB banks operating in the country to disclose to Nigerian governments the names of accounts not yet connected with BVN; account numbers; their outstanding balances; local addresses; and home accounts without BVN and where they are domiciled. Nigeria deposits money banks that were listed as defendants in the ex parte lawsuit are: Bank Access, Citi Bank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank and First City Monument Bank. Others are: Guaranty Trust Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank and United Bank for Africa. The remaining three are: Unity, Bank Wema Bank and Zenith Bank. The court also ordered all of them to disclose any investment made with funds and retain authorization for any funds entry of the accounts. All details should be sent to the NIBSS and the CBN for authentication. The banks were also ordered to publish all bank accounts not linked to BVN in national newspapers with a 14-day notice for people with interests in such accounts to come forward and justify why their funds should not be confiscated from the Nigerian government . Mr. Dimgba also ordered the CBN, which joined as the 20th respondent along with the 19 DMBs, to appoint an official who will examine all details submitted to apex bank for compliance. The government argued the matter under Section 3 of the Money Laundering Act, 2011. The section says that banks must "ensure that documents, data or information collected under the customer due diligence process are kept up to date and relevant when conducting reviews of existing records, especially for categories of customers or higher-risk business relationships. " The Bank Verification Number is a unique identification number that can be verified and used to conduct business transactions on all banking platforms in Nigeria. The CBN imposed the policy to capture customer data for financial transactions and control fraud in the banking system. Registration for BVN began on February 14, 2014 throughout the country. The CBN said that more than 20.8 million customers registered 40 million bank accounts by October 31, 2015, the deadline for customers residing in the country. The CBN extended the deadline for Nigerians in the diaspora until December 2016 to enroll in the BVN system. But it is still believed that hundreds of thousands of people are left at home and abroad.
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