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Nigerian ex-oil minister charged with money laundering - crimes agency
Nigeria's Petroleum Minister and OPEC's alternate president Diezani Alison-Madueke speaks at the annual IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, March 4, 2014. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Rick Wilking
06/04/2017
LAGOS (Reuters) - Former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, who held the post for five years between 2010-15, has been charged with money laundering, the country's financial crimes agency said on Wednesday.
Three members of the National Electoral Commission (INEC) "allegedly received bribes" from the minister ahead of the 2015 general election, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said in a statement.
One charge read at the Federal High Court in Lagos stated that Alison-Madueke and the officials "conspired among yourselves to directly take possession of 264.9 million naira ($867,813)" on or about March 27, 2015, contrary to money laundering laws.
The former petroleum minister, who served during the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan, was not in court to enter a plea.
Alison-Madueke - who was briefly arrested in London in October 2015, although no charges were brought - has previously denied to Reuters any wrongdoing when questioned about missing public funds and corruption allegations.
Jonathan lost the 2015 presidential election to Muhammadu Buhari, who had campaigned on a ticket to fix the economy of a country where 70 percent of the 180 million people live on less than $2 a day despite the OPEC member's vast energy wealth.
The financial crimes agency has been investigating allegations of illegal transactions in the run-up to the 2015 election for more than a year.
The EFCC said one of the INEC officials, Christian Nwosu, pleaded guilty to receiving 30 million naira. The two others pleaded not guilty to money laundering offences.
The prosecution lawyer said Nwosu had entered into a plea bargain agreement. He also said he had purchased properties with the 30 million naira.
"Having demonstrated remorse and given useful information to aid the prosecution of the case, he has entered into an agreement to forfeit the properties to the federal government," said prosecution lawyer Rotimi Oyedepo.
"The EFCC has recovered the 5 million naira left from the first defendant, having spent 25 million naira to acquire properties," he added.
Former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, who also served under Jonathan, was charged in December 2015 with money laundering and criminal breach of trust. He pleaded not guilty.
Bello Haliru Mohammed, who was Jonathan's defence minister, was charged in January 2016 with money laundering and criminal breach of trust over 300 million naira that was intended for defence spending. He also pleaded not guilty.[nL5N16F2PF]
(Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
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