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.