The identities of individuals allegedly sponsoring a suspected currency trafficker, Abubakar Tijjani Sheriff, who was arrested while attempting to smuggle $7million cash (about N1.1billion) out of the country, are now beginning to emerge. LEADERSHIP can now authoritatively report that one of the sponsors (names withheld) gave $2.8million cash out of the said $7million to Sheriff for trafficking to Dubai.
A source within the EFCC told LEADERSHIP yesterday that the
suspect had made a useful statement that would enable the commission unravel
the other individuals that were using Sheriff as front for illegal currency
trafficking.
The source further confided in our correspondent that the
details of the said sponsor's status would not be made public for now, as he
insisted that the development might affect the course of further investigation
on the matter.
He added that the suspect was cooperating with the
anti-graft agency in its bid to apprehend other sponsors.
He said, "I can tell you that the suspect (Sheriff) has
revealed that $2.8million out of the $7million cash belongs to the said
sponsor. He has confessed that he is a courier for 20 individuals who hired him
to courier the money for them to Dubai. He is still assisting investigators to
determine these individuals.
"I will not be able to give you further details on the
status of the said suspect and other sponsors. This is because we are closing
in on them and we don't want to do anything that will enable them to escape.
The EFCC operatives are working on the suspect's confession and I can tell you
that appreciable progress is being made in this regard."
The 24-year-old suspect was picked up on Thursday, last
week, at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos en route Dubai, United Arab
Emirates, at the point of boarding the plane.
Meanwhile, four suspects have been arrested and are
currently being quizzed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,
over an attempt to export $9million cash out of the country.
LEADERSHIP exclusively gathered that the suspects were
arrested separately at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and
the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
Checks revealed that, two days after the arrest of Sheriff,
the anti-graft agency similarly apprehended one Nkem Sebastian for attempting
to smuggle $286,000 out of the country. He was arrested as he prepared to board
a plane to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, en route China.
When the money was discovered, Sebastian disclosed that he
had only $200,000 on him. But a search revealed that he was actually carrying
$286,000.
Under-declaring cash at the entry and exit points in the
country are a criminal offence and the person making the declaration risks
losing 25 per cent of the money under the provisions of the Money Laundering
Act, 2012.
On interrogation, Sebastian claimed that he was given the
money by one Konja for distribution to unnamed recipients in China. He claimed
not to know the home of Konja, saying that they always met at the airport where
he handed him the consignment to deliver outside Nigeria.
The commission had, on September 22, arrested one Prince
Oteh Emenike with N996, 040 cash at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Unlike the others, Emenike, who was to board a China-bound Ethiopian Airline,
fully disclosed the money. He claimed the money was given to him to deliver to
some traders in China.
But the latest in the string of arrests over bulk cash
smuggling, LEADERSHIP can now report, was at the Mallam Aminu Kano
International Airport, Kano, where operatives of the EFCC this Sunday arrested
one Alhaji Tasiu Ilu Kura, a businessman, with $700,000 (about N112million).
The suspect, who hails from Kura local government area in Kano State, was
arrested en route Dubai with a valid Niger Republic passport (07PC61816).
Three other suspects were equally arrested for failing to
declare the foreign exchange on them. They are Sadi Umar Abdurahman, Nasir
Sanni Ali and Haruna Inuousa Murtala.
According to the EFCC source, an investigation into the
source of the funds and what it was meant for was ongoing.
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