EFCC catches Idris a day after the arrest of his alleged accomplice in N84b heist
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
After receiving much flak for pursuing small fries, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa now seems to have truly set his sights on big fish with the word out today of him catching Ahmed Idris in another alleged N90 billion heist.
That brings to N174 billion (for now) the total fraud allegations against the suspended Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) after the first tranche of N84 billion for which he was arrested by the EFCC on 16 May.
Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed suspended Idris from office with effect from 16 May in a letter dated 18 May.
The disclosure on Monday comes a day after the rejuvenated graft buster arrested former Zamfara Governor Abdul’aziz Yari for allegedly colluding with Idris to steal N22 billion from the original N84 billion of public money.
Yari’s arrest came just 24 hours after he won unopposed an All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket to contest for Zamfara West senatorial seat.
Yari was arrested along with Anthony Yaro, the Chairman and Managing Director of Finex Professional, the company through which Yari allegedly benefited from the fraud.
Bawa began to raise the stakes against alleged treasury emptiers this year with the arrest on 17 March of former Anambra Governor Willie Obiano for allegedly misappropriating N42 billion while in office.
He was released on bail on 23 March after fulfilling his bail conditions.
Bawa nabbed and detained boastful former Imo Governor Rochas Okorocha on 24 May over alleged N2.9 billion fraud while in office. He was charged to court today and remanded in EFCC custody pending determination of his bail application.
Idris squealing on accomplices
Idris, who was battling for bail last night, has opened up on some top government officials allegedly involved in fraudulent transactions.
The EFCC has grilled a Permanent Secretary in connection with some “deals in which he was implicated” and is closing in on a Minister fingered in the allegations.
Idris was arrested on 16 May after he shunned 80 invitations from the EFCC.
________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
EFCC discovers 17 properties amassed by Idris
Only Buhari can suspend Idris, by law, says Falana
Under Buhari, even lawmakers are stealing billions, says ICPC
__________________________________________________________________
Indris implicates Minister in probe
Investigation by The Nation shows that the EFCC discovered additional illegal transactions in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), which came up with the alleged new N90 billion scam.
“So far, the EFCC Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa and his team have made substantial progress. This is one of the biggest scandals that Bawa’s administration has uncovered,” a source told The Nation.
“Based on preliminary investigation, the suspended AGF now will account for N170 billion. Detectives are still digging more into his activities in office.
“Since his arrest on May 16th, he has made useful disclosures including some suspicious accounts and transactions.
“As part of his disclosures during the investigation, a federal Permanent Secretary was invited and interrogated by the EFCC last week.
“The Permanent Secretary is presently on bail and his movement restricted to Abuja. The Permanent Secretary has made a useful statement to investigators.
“A Minister was also implicated. We have to verify whether or not the links with the Minister were real or maybe the suspect was just desperate to rope in others.”
Idris arrested after shunning several invitations
The source gave insight into why the EFCC trailed Idris to Kano to effect his arrest.
“From records, the suspended AGF was invited by the Commission about 80 times but for reasons best known to him, he shunned EFCC’s request for interaction. He was just evasive.
“He was later trailed to Kano where he was picked up on May 16. He was still in custody as of yesterday but he has been offered bail.
“He needs to fulfil the conditions for bail and he has been battling to do so on Sunday.”
EFCC Media and Publicity Head Wilson Uwujaren explained in a statement on 16 May why Idris was arrested.
“Operatives of the EFCC, on May 16, arrested serving Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris, in connection with diversion of funds and money laundering activities to the tune of N80 billion only.
“The Commission’s verified intelligence showed that the AGF raked off the funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members and close associates,” the statement said.
“The funds were laundered through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja.
“Idris was arrested after failing to honour invitations by the EFCC to respond to issues connected to the fraudulent acts.”
The EFCC later revised the amount involved in the alleged fraud from N80 billion to N84 billion.