The Nation newspaper is reporting that the Olam Group (OLAG.SI) has debunked the allegation that its units in Nigeria were involved in over $50 billion foreign exchange fraud.
It will be recalled that two dailies, not The Nation, reported that Nigeria’s secret police was investigating the company’s units Olam Nigeria and Olam International and their associate firms for a more than $50 billion foreign exchange fraud.
A statement issued by the company said the allegation was baseless given that both figures are several times more than the company’s total turnover over the last seven years.
“Based on the Olam Group’s audited financial statements, which are publicly available, the Olam Group’s cumulative turnover in Nigeria (including all export, import and domestic sales) for finanacial year 2015 to financial year 2022 was US$14 billion in total, and for the same eight-year period, the value of capital importations (via Certificates of Capital Importations) for the entire Olam Group in Nigeria was US$2.4 billion in total.”
“The references in the news articles to “$50 billion” and the sum of $34 billion “funneled… under… capital importation” by Olam are thus manifestly inaccurate and designed to be misleading,” the press release said.
The firm also noted that Olam Nigeria has responded to various legitimate requests for information by the relevant Nigerian authorities, and will cooperate with any legitimate requests for information or assistance from relevant Nigerian authorities.
The statement stated further that Olam has an outstanding track record in Nigeria, having invested millions of dollars in the agriculture sector to create wealth that is shared by thousands of people across the country.
