MTN has been accused of illegally repatriating about $14bn from Nigeria, the mobile network operator’s largest market.The news sent the share price down about 3% to close at R119.77. According to a Bloomberg report, Nigeria’s senate said on Tuesday it would investigate the claim thoroughly.Africa’s biggest wireless carrier by sales is accused of repatriating the funds over 10 years starting in 2006, according to Dino Melaye, the politician who tabled the motion. The four banks involved in the alleged illegal transfers are Citigroup, Standard Chartered, and Nigerian lenders Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Diamond Bank.MTN and Standard Bank Group, which controls Stanbic, declined to comment.But analysts expressed doubts about the veracity of the claims and how this had gone undetected for such a long time, especially since the Nigerian authorities had tight controls on foreign exchange.Mergence Investment Managers’ portfolio manager Peter Takaendesa said it was difficult to believe that any...
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