• SEC slams finance guru 20-year ban
• Why the BGL boss was penalised
• His disgraceful encounter with the EFCC
Had he been brighter, his wile been milder and his approach to commerce without fault, this could have been a one-sentence story: Once upon a time, Albert Okumagba became Nigeria’s god of commerce and he lived happily ever after. But Albert is no god of commerce. Failure and shame trails his business exploits, like the mangled tail of a sickly ox. Albert has boxed himself into a tough spot. His approach to commerce has cost him his name and his job.
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) banned the Managing Director of BGL Plc, and his deputy, Chibundu Edozie, from carrying out capital market activities for 20 years. The SEC subsequently ordered Albert’s companies to restitute investors over N2 billion.
The ban followed complaints from investors against Okumagba and his company over failure, refusal and or/neglect to liquidate their investments in both the Guaranteed Consolidated dated Notes and Guaranteed Premium Notes, two investment products run by the company.
According to SEC, in a bid to obtain justice for the complainants and grant all parties fair hearing, the matter was presented before the Administrative Proceedings Committee (APC) of the commission which sat on February 6, 2016. During the proceedings testimonies and documentary evidence were tendered by various parties.
Consequently, the registration of BGL Securities Limited and BGL Assets Management Limited were cancelled, while Albert and Edozien were banned from capital market operations for 20 years.
It would be recalled that few months ago, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, arrested Albert for offences bordering on stealing and obtaining money by false pretences. The Delta State native was picked up late Wednesday, September 9, 2015, by operatives of the EFCC. His arrest was triggered by investigation into a petition submitted to the anti-graft agency by the SEC in May, 2015.
Albert allegedly diverted the sum of N28.9billion being proceeds of private placements of 4.3 billion ordinary shares of 50k each at N7.00k per share in 2007. The company, whose subsidiaries include BGL Capital, BGL Private Equity, BGL Security and BGL Asset Management, allegedly lured 50 investors from across the country into subscribing to the company’s shares, promising them options of liquidity and exit within two years.
The liquidity and exit options offered the investors, which were contained in its memorandum of private placements, implies that the investors would get value for their investments through one of its subsidiaries, BGL Securities Limited.
But BGL moved the sum of N28.9billion to an offshore account belonging to one of its subsidiaries, BV1 Club 1, British Virgin Island. Albert reportedly refused the investors the opportunity to liquidate their assets as promised.
Further investigations revealed that although Albert allegedly promised the investors that BGL would be listed on the SEC via an Initial Private Offer (IPO) within 24 months after the private placements was concluded in 2008, his promise never materialised.
Albert, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of BGL Plc flaunts an impressive record in financial services. Prior to joining BGL Plc, he was Manager and Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Centre-Point Merchant Bank Limited (now Unity Bank Plc). During his career at Centre-Point, Albert managed portfolios in Corporate Banking, Multilateral Agency Credits and traded on the floors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on behalf of Centre-Point’s stock broking affiliate, Centre-Point Investment Limited. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan and a Master of Science Degree in Economics specialising in Monetary Economics from the University of Lagos.
