Another whopping sum of $175,750,000 has been reportedly found in an account linked to former First Lady, Patience Jonathan.
According to The Nation, the deposits were found in the account of Pluto Property and Investment Limited. The report added that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has launched a manhunt for two suspects, Toru Wonyeng Ibuomo and Friday Davies, linked to the deposits.
The deposits were reportedly made in four branches between February 21, 2014 and April 1, 2015.
The EFCC is currently investigating how the money ‘vanished’ from the account without any trace of where it was diverted to.
According to the source:
The EFCC is probing how the deposits hit the company’s account barely two years after it was registered and without executing any major contract. We are suspecting that this is another slush account where government funds were diverted to.
All the deposits were in cash, a development which showed that it was a pure case of money laundering. On the 21st of February, the account was reported to have recorded a cash deposit of $46,500,000 by the General Manager of Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited, Toru Wonyeng Ibuomo.
Three days after (24th of February, 2014), another cash deposit of $31,000,000 was made by the same General Manager. Friday Davies made a cash deposit of $49,250,000 into the same account. The last tranche of $49,000,000 was deposited by Davies on Apri 1, 2015.
We need the two depositors to assist in the ongoing investigation of the payments into the affected account. It is more curious when the bank details did not show evidence of withdrawals. Yet the whereabouts of the cash was unknown. We hope it is not a private banking arrangement to hide slush funds.
The source confirmed that the EFCC would probe the likely roles of the former First Lady in operating the account of Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited.
“In a matter before the Federal High Court, the ex-First Lady admitted that one of her domiciliary accounts was bearing Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited. We are investigating this $175.750 million deposits and the extent of the involvement or relationship of the ex-First Lady with the funds. This is a fresh case; it has nothing to do with the $15.5million frozen by the EFCC,” the source said.
Recall that Pluto Property and Investment Limited, alongside three other companies – Seagate Property Development & Investment Co. Limited; Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited – were convicted by Justice Babs Kuewumi of the Federal High Court in Lagos after they pleaded guilty to the money laundering charges against them. Read it here.
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