Court freezes Bauchi FCMB account over alleged money laundering

By Andrew Orolua, Abuja.

The vacation judge of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Monday froze the bank account of the Bauchi state government with the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) in the interim, following allegations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that it is being used for money laundering

Justice Taiwo Taiwo, gave the order barring any further withdrawal of funds from the account which is domiciled in FCMB pending the conclusion of investigations by the EFCC.

The judge gave the order while ruling on an ex parte application brought by EFCC operatives through their lawyer who complained that over N20 billion in the account has been laundered.

The anti-graft agency also told the court that a crack team it constituted from its Gombe zonal office, headed by a Chief Investigator, Mohammed Abdullahi, has already commenced investigation on the matter.

EFCC also told the court that it has between May 24 and May 28, received an intelligence that the past administration in Bauchi state initiated a process of over-drawing to launder about N20 billion that accrued to the state from the federation account.

The agency through its lawyer, Abubakar Aliyu, said a current balance of N11.5 billion was directly paid into the Bauchi state FCMB account from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by the federal government.

It alleged that the money laundering process was initiated by the past administration in the state and was swiftly adopted by the current government in the state.

The judge has adjourned the case to September 3 for hearing of the substantive matter and ordered the commission to put the party concerned on notice within the next 21 days.