FOR transactions that are allegedly far from being transparent in the sales of shares in the former Econet Wireless Nigeria (EWN) last year, four directors of Vee Networks Limited, the company's new name, may be charged to court this week by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Although details of the charges are still being worked out, sources confirmed that the questionable transactions also involved three state governments and three firms, which allegedly served as brokers to the deals.

The deals were said to have taken place between February and August 2001.

Private companies owned by two of the Vee Networks directors which names were given as Bromley Investments Limited, Bromley Assests Management Ltd and Empee Ventures Limited were allegedly used by the directors on the board to encourage Delta, Lagos and Akwa Ibom states to buy shares in the infant GSM company for which the directors' companies got mouth-watering payments. Specifically, one of the said directors is being investigated by EFCC for corrupt enrichment in the shares deal while another, who sold his company with which he bought the GSM firm's shares is being probed for selling the shares at an expensive price of eight dollars per share to the state government half of what was allotted to him at a nominal price of two dollars per share by Econet (VMobile). In effect, he used only a fraction of the funds from the sale to the said state government of half of the shares allotted to him to pay for the whole (including the half he has kept) thereby keeping a very tidy balance. Indeed, he allegedly collected $22.5 million from the state government for half of his 10 million shares. He needed and actually invested only $20 million for the whole.

Another point that has been of interest to EFCC is that the companies used for these transactions were incorporated on the same day that the VMobile director who owned them made his request for his shares in the GSM firm to be allotted.

Besides, the state government involved in this case made the purchase of the director's company (thereby buying half of his share holding in the then Econet) only five months after this company's incorporation. Also being checked is the source of payment of N2,513,250,000.00 for the shares by the state government.

The state government official, who was on the GSM firm's board until recently, reportedly told EFCC that the money was sourced from the banks. To this submission, EFCC is said to be requesting for the loan paper trail to ascertain the authenticity of the loans. Other directors are being investigated for brokerage fees they collected.

These were the deals, which Econet's estranged director, Mr. Strive Masiyiwa described as bribes, prompting him to petition Vodacom of South Africa which had sought to invest in the GSM firm, with the "caveat emptor," "buyer beware" petition.

Sensing that the boardroom crisis which sent Masiyiwa's Econet Wireless International (EWI) packing because of what he described as "unethical corporate governance behaviour of some of the Nigerian directors," Vodacom pulled out in May, just a little over a month after it signed a five-year management contract with Vee Networks.

The Federal Government, acting on the advice of the Communications Minister asked the EFCC to investigate the circumstances leading to the exit of Vodacom from Nigeria, a situation it saw as dangerous to the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country if not checked.

The Presidency was said to be embarrassed by the premature departure of Vodacom despite all the incentives and high profile investment assurance by government.

The Vee Network directors were quizzed last Friday by EFCC on alleged corrupt practices in the transfer of shares.
Yesterday, one of the directors fingered in the deal for one of the states would rather not offer any statement. He said he was going to contact his lawyers first before making any statement.

Another one of the directors pencilled down for possible trial is said to have also misled the state he represented into parting with huge sums on the deals, only for him to deploy the excess funds to invest on behalf of his company.

The EFCC has seized passports of three of the directors and asked them to be reporting to it regularly until their charges are concluded and taken to court.

While confirming the seizure of the passports, one of the directors said that there was nothing strange about this. "It is routine and we have to accept it as it is."`