Money
Laundering Allegations Against Obasanjo’s Aide: Matters Arising
By
Senior
Fyneface
senior_fyneface@yahoo.com
November 7, 2006
When a United States District Court
in Portland, Oregon, recently announced that after a thorough investigation, it
has seized money believed to have been laundered by President Olusegun
Obasanjo’s Senior Personal Assistant on Domestic Affairs, Mr Andy Uba, the
Presidency on Monday 6 November 2006 dismissed the allegation as baseless and
gross distortion of facts.
A United State District Court of Portland, Oregon was reported to have seized
large sum of foreign currency from Mr Uba who was alleged to have smuggled
the money into the United State using the Presidential jet. The laundered funds
and a very luxurious car already purchased with part of the money are being
withheld after the U.S court order as “proceeds of bulk cash smuggling,
violations of currency and monetary instrument reporting requirements, currency
transaction reporting requirements, and money laundering.”
According to an investigation report by the U.S secret service, the sum of
$170,000 (about N25 million at the time) was among the laundered batch of
monies smuggled into New York on September 22, 2003, by Andy Uba aboard the
Nigerian presidential plane, without a report to U.S customs and border
protection as legally required.
Uba allegedly handed the money to one Loretta Mabinton, who claimed in court
documents that the presidential aide was her fiancée, and that he gave her the
money to take care of his affairs in the U.S. Part of the money, $45,487.28
(about N6.5 million), was said to have been used to pay Mabinton’s MBNA credit
card account, which was deployed to purchase assorted farm equipment that were
shipped to Obasanjo Farms in Otta, Ogun State.
The report also quoted a secret service report which it said equally established
that $91,262.50 (about N12.9 million) was used to purchase a Mercedes Benz car
SL500 for Uba, which was to be shipped to Nigeria. The car, and the remainder of
the laundered funds, has now been ordered seized by the US District Court of
Oregon, being proceeds of bulk cash smuggling, violations of currency and
monetary instrument reporting requirements, currency transaction reporting
requirements, and money laundering.
Loretta Mabinton, the report alleged, had confessed to the US law enforcement
agents that she flew into New York on September 22, 2003 and received $170,000
from Uba while he was at the United Nations Plaza Hotel in the company of
President Obasanjo. The latter had accompanied the President to New York to
attend a meeting of the United Nations.
Another curious side to the money laundering scandal is the disclosure in the
U.S secret service report that a tangible portion of the laundered money was
deployed to purchase assorted farm equipment that were shipped to Obasanjo Farms
in Otta, Ogun State. The question here is: Was the money actually taken to the
U.S. by the President for use in his overseas shopping both for his farms and
cars as indicated in the U.S. secrete service report? Or was Andy Uba buying
farm equipment in the U.S. as gifts to his boss? These and many more questions
need to be answered by the President’s people.
However, to Bashorun Akin Osuntokun, the Political Adviser to President Obasanjo
there was nothing unusual or rather of serious concern to the Nigerian
Government as “the allegations are baseless and a gross distortion of facts”.
So the question now is: What are the facts of the money laundering, corruption
and currency racketeering offense against a senior aide to the President of
Nigeria with even a link to the President himself?
Which of the allegations was baseless- that Loretta Mabinto was not Uba’s
fiancée or that part of the money was not used to purchase assorted farm
equipment that were shipped to Obasanjo Farms in Otta, Ogun state? Or that the
FBI did not thoroughly investigate the case before appearing in the court to
present evidence? Or that the money was not seized as claimed by the U.S
Government? So which of these allegations could be said to be baseless or
distorted?
Uba allegedly handed the money to one Loretta Mabinton, who claimed in the U.S.
court documents that the presidential aide was her fiancée, and that he gave her
the money to take care of his affairs in the U.S. Part of the money, $45,487.28
(about N6.5 million), was said to have been used to pay Mabinton’s MBNA credit
card account, which was deployed to purchase assorted farm equipment that were
shipped to Obasanjo Farms in Otta, Ogun State. One may think that the case or
rather allegations were very clear enough.
The confirmed use of the nation’s Presidential plane for money laundering was a
serious violation and debasing of the dignity and pride of this country. The
Political Adviser to the President should have known from his years of
experience in News Agency of Nigeria that the presidential plane is not just an
ordinary aircraft used by the President to travel when he wants to. Rather it
represents our dignity, honour and integrity as a nation just as the national
flag.
No matter the amount of money involved, the issue remains that the President of
Nigeria or rather his personal aide has been implicated in a criminal act abroad
involving money laundering and currency racketeering. Of course, who knows
whether the U.S. secret agents uncovered even bigger laundering and racketeering
cases in the course of their investigations into the Andy Ubagate. So for
government officials to treat such matter with levity show inexperience and
rascality in governance in this country.
And most annoying was the uncalculated and not-too wise comments of the Chairman
of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Nuhu Ribadu that “we will go
into the matter if U.S. Government invites us into it”. What a contradiction or
rather double standard in the avowed anti-corruption campaign which the EFCC
represents.
Who should be contacting whom, the U.S. Government or Ribadu’s EFCC? A very
serious allegation of corruption, money laundering and gross abuse of office has
been raised against a senior aide of the President with some hints linking the
President himself to the crime, it is only proper for the EFCC to apply to the
concerned government if for nothing, at least to try to clear the President’s
name from such heinous crime and international shame.
It is pathetic that the President and his cronies in and around Aso Rock Villa
think that Nigerians are just a bunch of fools who swallow whatever you tell
them on the face value. At the wake of the money laundering scandal, Mr Uba was
sacked by President Obasanjo as a face -saving measure. But rather than tie the
sack to the money laundering and foreign exchange racketeering scandal, the
Presidency claimed that Uba quit the Obasanjo administration to pursue his
ambition to rule Anambra, the state the accused money launderer and his younger
brother have been tormenting since the era of the peoples’ governor Dr Chris
Ngige.
The Presidency claimed that the controversial Andy Uba tendered his letter of
resignation to take effect from November 1 2006. Meanwhile, as at November 6,
2006, the controversial man was still in the presidential entourage as part of
the official delegation to China and South Korea.
Truth be told, Andy Uba was sacked because of the scandal at least to give the
impression that the President does not want anything to tarnish his image. The
President’s spokespersons, from established track records, are really not as
intelligent or rather as crafty as Mr. President himself.
Nigerians would want to know if now that the U.S Secret Service investigation
report and a competent court of law have indicted the President’s aide based on
a fully investigated and established case of money laundering and currency
racketeering whether the EFCC would take up the matter from where the U.S
authourities stopped with a view to prosecuting all the people that were
fingered in the scandal? Such action would heavily lend credit to the EFCC’s
claims of being unbiased and apolitical.
SENIOR FYNEFACE, ELELEWON STREET GRA II, PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE.
