CEOs Of MTN, Glo, Others Face Arrest Over Alleged $30bn Revenue Fraud

The House of Representatives has issued a seven-day ultimatum to Chief Executive Officers of 15 telecommunications service providers in the country, to appear before its committee on finance or face arrest.  

The ultimatum follows an alleged foreign exchange fraud which resulted to $30 billion leakages in the telecom sector.

The companies were said to have evaded tax and committed other infractions which affected government revenues.

According to reports, the fraud led to a unanimous decision by the house to summon 15 telecoms operators, including MTN Nigeria, Glo Mobile Limited, Airtel Nigeria, to appear before it. 

Chairman of the house committee on finance, James Faleke, during plenary on Thursday, said that the CEOs had ignored several invitations, adding that the operators through their incorporated trustees chose to sue the House over appearing before the committee.

Faleke explained to the house that their action was obstructing  investigations by the committee over the alleged $30 billion fraud.

Reacting, the speaker of the house of representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, frowned at the development, saying it was a contempt of legislature.

He however called on the committee to give them the benefit of doubt, adding that failure to comply with the directive would force the house to issue warrants for their arrest.

According to him, “if within seven days, they fail to appear, we will begin the process of invoking the constitution to force them to appear.”