South African telecom giant, MTN has denied allegations by the Nigerian Senate that it repatriated $14 billion out of the country.
“The allegations made against MTN are completely unfounded and without any merit,” MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Ferdi Moolman, said in a statement in Johannesburg.
Rising from its plenary session on Tuesday, the Nigerian Senate agreed to investigate MTN after allegations were raised that the telecom company, illegally transferred money out of the country.
Additionally, Senator Dino Melaye, who raised the motion, said the alleged illegal repatriation was allegedly facilitated by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Elenemah and involved Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citi Bank and Diamond Bank.
The allegation comes few months after the Nigeria authorities fined MTN $5.2bn for failing to de-register SIM cards, which it eventually managed to reduce to $1.7bn.
The company had threatened to pull out of Nigeria during the dispute.
MTN is the largest mobile phone operator in Nigeria, which accounts for about one third of the company’s revenues. It now lists its local unit on the country’s stock exchange
