A Minister Bought $37.5m Property Through Bank MD – EFCC Boss, Bawa

Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has narrated how a minister purchased a property through a bank chief.

Bawa spoke Tuesday in an interview with Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme.

The anti-corruption chief identified the real estate sector as a major conduit for money laundering.

Bawa disclosed that EFCC investigated a female minister, who bought $37.5million property from a bank and deposited $20million cash.

The chairman did not mention if the suspect is a serving or former minister.

Bawa observed 90 to 100 percent of stolen public funds are used for the procurement of houses and lands.

“We investigated a matter in which a bank MD marketed a property to a minister and agreed to purchase it at $37.5m.

“The bank then sent a vehicle to her house to evacuate $20m from her house in the first instance,” he said.

Bawa added that the financial institution put the money in their system and paid the developer.

The bank then got a lawyer to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) where the title documents were transferred into.

Bawa said the legal practitioner is currently claiming to be the owner of the house.