The wife of the former president Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience has been implicated in yet another scandal involving the sum of $175 million.
According to sources within the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the anti-graft agency has launched a man hunt for two suspects, Toru Wonyeng Ibuomo and Friday Davies who deposited the huge sum in four tranches between February 21, 2014 and April 1, 2015.
The EFCC is thus interested in how the amount deposited was withdrawn from the domiciliary account belonging to one of the four earlier convicted companies, Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited, on November 2 for money laundering.
The Skye Bank Plc account of the Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited which was earlier linked to a $15.5 million money laundering and also linked to the wife of the former president is now under rigorous investigationn as to how the $175million disappeared and its whereabouts.
Speaking to news source, The Nation, an operative of EFCC said: “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.”
The EFCC further discovered that the said amount hit the company account barely two years after it was established and with no record of major project or contract executed.
Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited’s account was dicovered to have been opened on November 30, 2013 with number 2110002238 and the company itself was registered on January 29, 2013 with RC 1092722.
The deposit which came within 14 months of its registration was recorded as:
21/2/2014—$46,500,000
24/2/2014—$31,000,000
31/3/2015—$49,250,000
1/4/ 2015—$49,000,000
Speaking further on the investigation, the EFCC source said: “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.”
The source continued: “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 further revealed thet the EFCC is ready to probe the former first lady’s connection to the money which has been suspected to be a slush fund.
“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 $175.750million 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.”