Probe Panel to invite nine firms allegedly used by Gwarzo to siphon funds

The House of Representatives panel set up to probe the suspended Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mounir Gwarzo, will invite nine firms allegedly used by him to siphon funds from the Commission.
The report of the panel is expected to be sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is also investigating Gwarzo.
The firms include Outbound Investment Limited, Medusa Investment Limited, Northwind Environmental Services, Micro-Technologies Nigeria Limited, Tida International Limited, Outlook Communication, Acromac Nigeria Limited, Balfort International Limited and Interactive Worldwide Nigeria Limited.
According to some petitions against Gwarzo, some of the companies allegedly belong to him or his relatives.
In one of the petitions, it was alleged that one of the companies, Outbound Investment Limited, is owned by the suspended SEC boss while another firm, Medusa Investment Limited, is jointly owned by Gwarzo and his wife, Khadija.
In the petition, Gwarzo was accused of diverting money from the Commission under the pretext that he was organising staff training.
Some shell companies, which lacked the requisite expertise, were alleged to have been paid bogus sums of money for the training.
Gwarzo also allegedly collected the sum of N6m from the commission to fly first-class to Hong Kong in October 2016 in total disregard for the Federal Government’s directive issued in April 2016, which prohibited public officials from flying first-class.