I actually downloaded the 328-page document on the 4 cases including Atiku and read it all. There are many points of interest.
The US govt was concerned about the $40m Atiku brought into US accounts, especially as he was a politically exposed person.
Please note that the funds were mostly brought from Panama and the British Virgin Islands from the accounts of his business partner at Intel's, Mr. Volpi. Surely if Atiku knew his funds were proceeds of corruption rather than the legitimate business of Intel's, he would have left the funds in the tax havens from where they came, and where they would have been safe from the prying eyes of the US govt.
Also interesting is that when notice was given to him that his accounts would be closed, he was allowed to transfer the funds, which he did...to the UK, no less! Again I would wonder why a smart 'criminal' such as him would keep his 'proceeds of corruption' in economies where they can be easily probed and seized.
The main accusation the US govt made against him was that $2.8m was paid to his accounts by Siemens. But the same accusers admitted that there was a consultancy agreement giving legitimacy to those funds. They also noted that Siemens' books showed purchase of watches worth $170k for 'P' and 'VP', which they ASSUMED to mean OBJ and Atiku. At no point did the report ever confirm the assumption.
His 4th wife who operated the accounts in question is a US citizen, who at the time was living in the US. It is interesting that she was made to answer questions and then nothing happened!
His lawyer, who is very prominent in those parts, at one point after an account was closed, opened an account for Atiku under his law firm and was a signatory to the account...hardly the actions of a lawyer who knows his client's funds are proceeds of corruption. In case you don't know, he could have gone to jail for that if the money was indeed proceeds of corruption. Again he was asked to answer questions and provide documents, and then nothing!
The same report details the profits from Intel across several countries in Africa, which ran into at least a couple of hundred million per annum. $40m seems like a minor amount in that context.
I know that APC people are a bit allergic to thinking through issues before bandying slogans and propaganda around. But anyone who has any amount of money in foreign accounts and is Nigerian knows how those funds are treated with extreme suspicion often to the point of shutting the accounts down. In fact, when your principal Buhari went to England and said that all Nigerians are corrupt, there was a huge wave of British banks shutting Nigerian accounts down. I'm sure those people who were affected will protest vigorously that their money was not proceeds of corruption. Indeed the banks and the governments doing this know that, otherwise the funds would have been held pending investigation.
Please, Sir, stop bandying these stories around. They don't help your Principal one bit. On the contrary, they make him look like a desperate man who will do anything and say anything to hold on to power, even though he cannot deliver the minimum results.
Comments
Post a Comment