Former first lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan, says the money with EFCC belongs to her.
Anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has arrested a driver, houseboy and two other domestic staff working with for Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan in connection to $15m traced to Mrs Jonathan.
The money, which is located in four company accounts in Skye bank have a balance of about $15m while another account, which bears Patience Jonathan’s name, has $5m.
The former First Lady who said she owns the money in the accounts said she gave millions of dollars to the then Special Adviser to the President on Domestic Affairs, Waripamowei Dudafa, to open accounts for her.
But a detective at the EFCC revealed that Dudafa used his domestic servants’ names to open the four other accounts and then deposited the money into the accounts.
“We were investigating Dudafa when we stumbled on those four companies’ domiciliary accounts opened at Skye Bank with a balance of about $15m. On further investigation, we were able to identify the directors of the companies.
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“When we detained the directors, we found out that they were Dudafa’s domestic servants. One of them was a houseboy while another one was a driver.
Their photographs were used in opening the accounts and their signatures were forged.
“We found out that these domestic servants were completely innocent because they had no access to the accounts.
We have since released them. The sole signatory to the accounts was Patience Jonathan and she was issued with a special card, which is accepted worldwide. She has a separate account, which was opened in her name and has a balance of $5m,”he told Punch newspaper.
EFCC source also said two Skye Bank executives, Demola Bolodeoku and Dipo Oshodi, who helped Dudafa to open the accounts on March 22, 2010, were also being investigated.
“This is a clear case of fraud and there is no way the bank officials will say they did not know what was going on. They are under investigation and those found culpable will be arraigned,”the detective added.
The EFCC operative said he could not confirm if the transaction was reported to the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit revealing that the commission had discovered a trend which politicians used in laundering and concealing funds.
“What we have noticed is that in order to conceal funds, what politicians and top civil servants do is to open bank accounts in the name of family or friends and then make themselves the sole signatory to the account.
“Don’t forget that we traced about 17 bank accounts to the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.).
“Often times, they do this in connivance with bank officials and that is why the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has said henceforth, whenever we are investigating a bank official, we will probe the entire bank as well because these officials usually act under the instruction of their superiors.”
Jonathan’s wife has, however, sued Skye Bank for freezing her bank accounts and giving the EFCC vital information about her finances.
Meanwhile, Professor Itse Sagay has said that Patience Jonathan must explainhow she came about to own $5m after the former first lady admitted that the money was hers
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