Patience Jonathan probe: EFCC freezes socialite, Bola Shagaya’s N500m account
The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission has frozen a bank account belonging to Mrs. Bola Shagaya, a
businesswoman which Forbes Magazine described as one of the wealthiest
in Africa.
It was learnt that Shagaya, who is
founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bolmus Group International – a
diversified Nigerian conglomerate with interests in oil, real estate,
banking, communications and photography – had become a subject of
investigation due to her links to Dame Patience Jonathan, the wife of
former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Sources within the EFCC told SUNDAY PUNCH that Shagaya’s account with Unity Bank with a balance of N500m was frozen.
The business tycoon, who is also the
Managing Director of Practoil Limited, one of the largest importers and
distributors of base oil in Nigeria, was said to have made suspicious
payments into bank accounts belonging to Patience, who has been under
EFCC investigation for about six months.
A source at the EFCC said, “When we were
investigating Patience and looking into her accounts, we discovered
that Bola Shagaya had been making huge and regular payments into her
(Patience’s) bank account.
“We then discovered that the monies were
kickbacks. The Ministry of Trade and Investment gave suspicious
commission to Shagaya’s company on every crude oil sent abroad. The
commission was put in an account for Bola Shagaya. The money will then
go to Patience’s account. So we started investigating her.
“We were able to trace the N500m to her account at Unity Bank. So, we placed a ‘No Debit Order’ on the account.”
The source said when Shagaya realised
that her account had been frozen, she rushed down to the bank and tried
to use her position as a board member of the bank to lift the
restriction.
The detective added, “When she heard
about the restriction, she ran down to the bank to stop the order from
being carried out. We then called the bank to let them know that doing
such would amount to a criminal conspiracy. At that point, she had no
choice.”
When contacted on Saturday night,
Shagaya said, “Please, don’t call this number. I am sleeping. Write
anything you want to write.”
The Head of Corporate Communications,
Unity Bank, Matthew Obiazikwor, could not be reached for comments as his
phone line was switched off and a text message sent to him had not been
responded to as of the time of filing this report.
Patience attempts to withdraw $5m from frozen account
Sources within the EFCC also told our
correspondent that it foiled a fresh attempt by Patience Jonathan to
withdraw $5m from her frozen account during the week.
The source said the commission was
informed by Skye Bank that Patience had placed a standing order for $5m
to be withdrawn from the account but it was stopped.
The detective added, “We received an
alert from Skye Bank during the week that Patience attempted to withdraw
$5m from her personal account titled Patience Ibifaka Jonathan which is
domiciled at the bank.
“We immediately told the bank not to allow any withdrawal because a ‘No Debit Order’ had been placed on the account.”
It will be recalled that the EFCC had
frozen four other company accounts with a balance of $15m. The accounts
were linked to a former Special Adviser to Jonathan on Domestic Affairs,
Waripamowei Dudafa.
However, during the arraignment of
Dudafa and the directors of the companies, Patience filed an application
claiming ownership of the money.
She subsequently asked the court to lift the restriction on the accounts.
On Wednesday the directors of the
companies pleaded guilty to money laundering. The EFCC applied for the
money to be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government, a request
which has been deferred by the Federal High Court.