Pension scam: EFCC discovers N800m in deputy director’s account

A Deputy Director of Finance in the Federal Civil Service, Mrs. Piana Chidi, has been arrested in Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as a result of an alleged N800m found in her bank account.

Another reason for her arrest was the alleged role she played in an organised syndicate that defrauds the Federal Government monthly through a ghost pension scheme.

It was gathered that Chidi was arrested last Saturday at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja at about 8pm, having gone into hiding as her other colleagues had been apprehended.

While she currently works in the Ministry of Transport, the scam for which she is being quizzed was allegedly perpetrated at the office of the Head of Service of the Federation, where she had served as a deputy director.

A breakdown of the cash in her bank account showed that she had N500m in local currency and $2m (N300m).

The suspect is one of the six persons who have been in the custody of the EFCC since Saturday and being quizzed for their alleged roles in a pension fraud rocking federal ministries.

Other suspects being detained are: Messrs Danjuma Bako-Wasa, Luke Eloanyi, M.A. Abdalla, Aliyu Bello and Grace Francis.

Investigation by the anti-graft body revealed that Bako-Wasa was bearing Haruna Megida, with which he operated a different bank account.

Under one year, Megida allegedly paid about N21m into one bank account, just as N8m was discovered in another bank account that also belonged to him.

Similarly, the commission has traced N12m to Francis’ account, while Eloanyi, who is a confidential secretary, allegedly has N13m in his account.

A total of 141,970 pensioners are said to be on the Federal Government’s payroll monthly; whereas less than 90,000 pensioners have been verified, while 34,000 are believed to be ghost pensioners.

An operative of the EFCC told our correspondent that in one instance, 554 ghost pensioners purportedly drew pensions from one account.

The source said, “On Saturday, a Deputy Director of Finance/Accounts, Mrs. Piana Chidi, who was in the office of the Head of Service, was arrested at Sheraton at 8pm.

“By the time we checked her account, we found N500m and $2m in one single account; and she is the sole signatory.

“Prior to her arrest, while our operatives were working on the pensions committee, it was discovered that 141,970 pensioners are on the payroll of the Federal Government; but less than 90,000 pensioners were verified, while 34,000 are ghost workers.”