2 people have made separate attempts to claim the $2.1m
(about N418million) cash seized by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at
the Murtala Muhammed International Airport from the custody of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission.
The NDLEA had on July 3 intercepted the cash which was being
conveyed by a bureau de change operator, Mr. Ibiteye John Bamidele.
The anti-narcotics agency had suspected the bureau de change
operator of laundering the money.
Following his confession that he was on money laundering
errand allegedly for a former Executive Secretary of the National Health
Insurance Scheme, Dr. Olufemi Thomas, the NDLEA had on July 8th handed the
suspect and the cash to the EFCC.
It has however, been revealed that 2 different people have showed
up at the Lagos office of the EFCC to claim the cash.
It was learnt that one of the impostors, a man, who showed
up to claim ownership of the money, later confessed to EFCC operatives that he
was hired by some persons he didn’t name to retrieve the money from the
commission and he was arrested by the EFCC.
Another person,lady, this time was also said to have
appeared at the Lagos office of the EFCC, claiming that she was the one that
gave Bamidele the money.
The lady was said to have made repeated calls to the supposed owner of the money who failed to fulfil his promise that he would meet her at the EFCC office.
When she realised that her partner had failed her with the
refusal to appear at the commission. She was also said to have pleaded for
mercy when the operatives confronted her with facts from Bamidele.
A top officer of the EFCC, who spoke on condition of
anonymity said :
“Another thing you must know about this drama is that the
commission has foiled some attempts to retrieve the money.
“From the time the case was handed over to the commission on
July 8, 2015 to date, two people have come forward to claim the money.
“A few days after the money was handed over to the EFCC, a
man came to the office to claim the money but when he was grilled, he contradicted
himself. In fact, he said he was hired by some persons to claim and retrieve
the money from the commission.
“Apart from the man, another woman showed up the following
day to claim that she was the one who gave Bamidele the money.
“According to her claim, the money was proceeds of an
investment which was liquidated with a bank and was intended to be used to
purchase a property for the construction of a cardiac centre.
“However, her claim fell through when operatives confronted
her. The bureau de change operator who was caught with the money did not
mention her name. Then she realised that she wasn’t going anywhere with her
lies, she started pleading for mercy.”
Meanwhile, indications emerged on Saturday that Thomas had
been granted administrative bail on Friday by the EFCC after undergoing
interrogation in relation to the seized $2.1m.
The EFCC had invited the former NHIS boss, the prime
suspect, for interrogation on Friday and released him after hours of
interrogation.
On Saturday the EFCC operatives, who grilled the ex-NHIS
boss in relation to the ownership of the controversial money, asked him to
report to the Lagos office of the commission for further investigation whenever
he is needed.
No date was fixed for the next session with the commission.
Another senior officer of the EFCC, who also spoke on
condition of anonymity, said
“The case involving the seized $2.1 million is still
pending. The man was interrogated on Friday but released to go on what we call
administrative bail.
“Since the case is a Lagos case, he is expected to be
reporting to the commission’s office in Lagos whenever he is needed.”
Punch
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