The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered over N448 million in an abandoned location in Lagos.
Disclosing this on its social media, both the Facebook and Twitter accounts, the anti-graft agency said it found the money at a bureau de change in Lagos state.
Earlier, while the discovery story was developing, EFCC officials live streaming developments on the agencyโs Facebook page, said they were still counting the money.
The anti-graft agency earlier posted on its Facebook page: โEFCC Lagos zonal office discovers over N400 million and still counting, in an abandoned bureau de change.โ
But after the money had been counted, the EFCC said in a statement: โThe Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Lagos zone, this (Friday) evening uncovered yet another large sum of suspected laundered money to the tune of N448,850,000 (Four hundred and forty eight million, eight hundred and fifty thousand naira) only in a shop at LEGICO Shopping Plaza, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos. The money stashed in several Ghana Must Go bags were in N500 and N1000 denominations, hidden in a shop awaiting conversion into foreign currency.
โRelying on information provided by a concerned whistle blower, operatives of the Commision swooped on the shopping complex and sought the identity of the owners of two shops, LS 64 and LS 67 which were under locks and keys. The shops had signages of Bureau de Change. Inquries about the owner of shop 64 indicated he had not been seen for a long time, as they claimed the shop had not been opened for businesss for close to two years. Several calls were put to the owner of shop 67 but there was no response.
โThe attention of the plazaโs chairman and some traders were drawn in order to force the shops open. There was no money found in shop 67, but in shop 64, heaps of โGhana Must Goโ bags were found loaded on the floor of the shop. When the bags were unzipped they were found to contain bundles of naira notes totalling N448,850,000. Traders interviewed at the premises claimed they were not aware such money was housed in there, as the place hardly opens for business.
โThe Commission is investigating the matter in order to unravel the owner and source of the money.โ
Meanwhile, more than three weeks after it was recovered at the Kaduna airport, no one has come forward as of Friday evening to claim ownership of the N49 million intercepted by operatives of the EFCC.
Operatives of the anti-corruption commission from its Kaduna zonal office had on Tuesday, March 14, intercepted five bags containing the sum at the airport, which has been witnessing more traffic following diversion of flights there as a result of the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
A source said while investigations are on the identity of the owners, the EFCC is working on a number of theories, one of which is that the money in small and medium denominations was meant for trafficking to some West African countries.
Investigations by Saturday Tribune revealed that 24 days after it was intercepted, nobody is yet to lay claim to the money, which sources said is in EFCCโs custody.
According to an EFCC source, who spoke with Saturday Tribune on condition of anonymity, the money definitely belonged to some powerful persons, who wanted to use another person to ferry it out but could not, however, alert all security agencies at the airport to it with a view to making them โoverlookโ it to have a smooth passage.
The source informed that there was a person who accompanied the money to the airport, adding that, โthe person was alerted to the presence of EFCC operatives by other security personnel who provided a cover for him to escape in order not to be caught.โ
This, the source told Saturday Tribune, led to a misunderstanding between the operatives of the anti-graft agency, who were acting on intelligence report and the other security agencies at the airport.
โThe money was definitely not a ghost. Someone brought it to the airport that day. The person was meant to take it out on a flight that day but was alerted about the presence of EFCC operatives by some personnel of other security agencies at the airport that day.
โUnlike what happened in the case of the 33 suitcases brought into the country in the 1980s by some powerful military personnel, whereby all security personnel turned the other eyes to enable them to be evacuated, this one, the person accompany the bags of money came at the wrong time to the airport.
โBy the time he arrived, those who were supposed to provide cover had left but he was not only alerted to the presence of EFCC operatives in the airport but also provided cover to escape being caught by the operatives,โ the source told Saturday Tribune.
The source, however, informed that the N49 million was still with EFCC, adding that the commission was still investigating to unravel the mystery behind the money.
The money, which interception was made possible as a result of a tip-off, was contained in five large black coloured 150kg jute bags, which were said to have been unattended to at the airport as of the time it was sighted and without tags during a routine baggage screening.
Upon search, the five bags were discovered by the operatives to contain fresh crispy Naira notes of N200 denomination in 20 bundles, which add up to N40 million.
Another 180 bundles of N50 notes, totalling N9 million were also found in the bags, which were said to have had seal purportedly emanating from the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) Plc.
The commission secured an interim forfeiture order on March 16 from a federal high court in Kaduna. The order was granted by Justice S. M. Shuaibu, who ordered that the N49 million be forfeited to the Federal Government pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice filed by the EFCC.
The order was made pursuant to Section 17 (2) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related offences Act 2006 as there is no individual(s) coming forward to claim the said sum after over 72 hours of getting the intelligence report from the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria FAAN, Kaduna.
Justice Shuaibu further directed that the suit be published in any of the national dailies across the country within a reasonable time in order for the EFCC to move a motion for the final forfeiture in case no one or group of persons comes forward for the stated sum.
Responding to an email sent to him, the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, stated that the matter was before a court of law, adding that the commission was still investigating the matter.
He added that the head of the commissionโs Kaduna zonal office was explicit enough on the custody of the money when he briefed the media on the recovery made by its operatives last month.
โThis matter is before the court. Of course, the case is still under investigation and the zonal head of the commissionโs office in Kaduna, Mr. Ibrahim Bappa, was explicit on the custody of the funds when he briefed the media on the recovery,โ Uwujaren stated.
