TAJ Bank Director, Alkali Habib, Four Others Dragged To EFCC  Over Alleged Money Laundering

Alkali Habib, a director with TAJ Bank, and four other companies’ directors have been dragged before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged money laundering and breach of public procurement act.

The petitioner, Donnington Nigeria Limited in the petition addressed to the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said Habib is a director of Winslow Logistics Nigeria Limited, while Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad is that of Velocity Logistics.

The three other companies and their directors are Antasar Nigeria Limited (Innocent Nwobodo), Equal Logistics Limited (Edwin Iyk Anyadigibe) and Sahams Crystal Investment (Abdulmumini Haruna).

The five companies are awarded the controversial Cargo Tracking contract by the Federal Government.

However, Donnington Nigeria Limited, claimed all the directors are in breach of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011, and also violated the public procurement law.

The claimant in the petition authored and signed by its counsel, Reuben Atabo (SAN), said they (the directors) and their companies, among other infractions, failed to abide with the law establishing the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) in respect of Section 11(1) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The law mandates individuals and Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions to report their cash inflows and outflows in excess of N5million and N10million respectively to SCUML, a unit under the EFCC since starting operations.

It therefore, charged the anti-graft agency to investigate the companies and their directors for act of concealing or disguising the origins of illegally obtained proceeds and breaching the procurement law.

“Consequent upon the foregoing, we humbly request you use your good offices to investigate the breach of procurement laws and the inherent fraud in frustrating the good initiative of the EFCC and the Office of the Attorney-General in respect of the Cargo Declaration and Cargo Tracking Note regime.

“We also believe that the five companies are Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions and might be in breach of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 (as amended) and its successor, the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2022.

“We, therefore, request that the investigation should include an off-site and on-site investigation of the companies by the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering,” it reads in part.

The petitioner in the petition entitled: “Economic Sabotage of the Advanced Cargo Declaration and Cargo Tracking Note Regime as Well as Truncating the Initiative of the EFCC on the same issue by Antaser, Winslow, Equal, Velocity, Sahams Crystal” explained to the EFCC the genesis of the matter.

It said it proposed the reintroduction of the Cargo Tracking Scheme to the Federal Government, with the company to carry it out in partnership with a British company, Messrs. Vortex Limited, and secured presidential approval, after which the Bureau of Public Procurement denied it Certificate of No-Objection on allegedly no grounds in defiance of the Attorney-General, who reportedly wrote letters to appropriate quarters on

its engagement by the Federal Government with regard to the Cargo Tracking contract.

The company went on to say that while the BPP refused to allow it to proceed with the course of action for no just cause, it however, turned alleged blind eyes to the infractions committed by the five companies bordering on violation of money laundering and public procurement laws and issued the No-Objection Certificate to enable them get the contract.