•UK court okays seizure of £27,000
•Hardley Petroleum Solutions Limited
(Believed to be used for money laundering)
•Company registered in Manchester 27/06/2013
•Company dissolved in Manchester 10/02/2013
•Company didn’t file any account when operating
•Directors: Ugonna Madueke, Abu Fari, Somye
Agama and Abiye Agama
(Believed to be used for money laundering)
•Company registered in Manchester 27/06/2013
•Company dissolved in Manchester 10/02/2013
•Company didn’t file any account when operating
•Directors: Ugonna Madueke, Abu Fari, Somye
Agama and Abiye Agama
Former Minister of Petroleum
Resources Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke is to be arraigned in London with her
brothers for alleged bribery and money laundering, it was learnt yesterday. Investigations
by our correspondent in the United Kingdom showed that she was arrested with
her brothers Abiye Agama and Somye Agama.
They
are directors of Hadley Petroleum Solutions Limited, a company the authorities
believe to have been used for money laundering. The other directors are Ugonna
Madueke and Abu Fari.
The
Nation report continues:
The
company was registered in June 2013 in Manchester, but was dissolved less than
two years later in February this year without filing any account.
Abiye,
33, a point man of the firm, is a computer engineer and manager. He was a
director in 11 other companies. He resigned from seven of them.
The
United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) last week arrested Mrs
Alison-Madueke and five others as part of the investigation into allegations of
bribery and money laundering. They were granted bail.
It
could not be ascertained why the former minister was not arraigned.
But
she had previously denied any wrongdoing when it was alleged that US$20 billion
of oil money had gone missing when she was in office between 2010 and 2015
However,
a London (Westminster Magistrate’s Court) on Marylebone Road yesterday approved
the seizure of US$41,000 (£27,000) cash from her.
The
seizure of the cash followed an application brought by the NCA under the
Proceeds of Crime Act in the UK.
The
court ruled that the money can be held for six months.
There
was confusion earlier in the day that Mrs Alison-Madueke had appeared in court.
However, it turned to be incorrect. She was not taken to court and had not been
charged with any offence.
President
Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to curb corruption, saying “mind-boggling” sums
were stolen during the Jonathan administration.
The
NCA leads UK law enforcement’s fight to cut serious and organized crime. It has
national and international reach and the mandate and powers to work in
partnership with other law enforcement organizations to bring the full weight
of the law to bear on serious and organized criminals.
The
Proceeds of Crime Act says “The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) sets out
the legislative scheme for the recovery of criminal assets with criminal
confiscation being the most commonly used power.
“Confiscation
occurs after a conviction has taken place. Other means of recovering the
proceeds of crime which do not require a conviction are provided for in the
Act, namely civil recovery, cash seizure and taxation powers.
“The
aim of the asset recovery schemes in POCA is to deny criminals the use of their
assets, recover the proceeds of crime and disrupt and deter criminality.
“Since
2010, more than £746 million of criminal assets has been seized (to 2013/14)
across all four methods of recovery – a record amount.
“Over the same period,
assets worth more than £2.5 billion have been frozen denying criminals access
to these resources and £93 million has been returned to victims,” said a
factsheet.
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