Atiku’s loyalist arrested over alleged laundering of $4m

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is reported to have arrested an associate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over alleged laundering of $4 million.

The money is termed “suspicious election cash”.

The arrest followed an intelligence report on a suspicious transaction by a Bureau De Change (BDC) operator.

It had been reported how the PDP allegedly allocated $3million each for “logistics” to its 36 state branches and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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Most Bureau De Change operators and banks have, however, refused the “pressure” to convert the hard currency to Naira.

“A BDC operator was intercepted for shipping $2million from Abuja to Lagos for suspected money laundering,’’ Sources in EFCC is reported to have said.

The source said the BDC operator admitted that the suspect paid the Naira equivalent of $4 million into his account in exchange for hard currency.

“We invited the suspect for interrogation on Monday and Tuesday. Our detectives have also conducted a search of his home. Some useful documents were retrieved. Investigation is, however, still in progress.”

“Apart from documents relating to posh properties at home and abroad, a copy of the EFCC Investigation Report on Atiku’s relationship with a jailed US lawmaker, Williams Jefferson, was retrieved.’’ (NAN)