By Zainab Bakare
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recovered £30bn looted funds from the Humanitarian Ministry. This amount has been recovered from the N37,170,855,753.44 that was allegedly looted under the former minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouk.
It was reported that this amount was recovered on Friday from the accounts of Sadiya Umar-Farouk and James Okwete, who the funds of the ministry were sent to 38 different accounts, either his or connected to him.
The anti-graft agency has also recovered N500m from the laundering associated with Umar-Farouk’s successor, Betta Edu. The agency is still grilling her for her connection to the N1.7bn fraud.
A source from the EFCC said, “The commission has now recovered over N30bn from the laundered N37.1bn that was linked to former minister Sadiya Umar-Farouq. We were able to recover the money after we placed liens on the bank accounts of the former minister and the contractor, Mr Okwete, who was linked to the fraud under probe. Both the minister and the contractor are still being grilled by our investigators daily.”
According to a senior investigator in the anti-graft agency, “We have uncovered another N17bn money laundering from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and for the alleged fraud linked to the suspended minister, Betta Edu, we have so far recovered over N500m. Edu is still answering questions about the fraud.”
We were able to Recover N30bn Looted Funds from Humanitarian Ministry – EFCC
