The financial records of two forrmer Nigerian presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, were probed for several years by the United States authorities, through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency of the U.S. Department of Treasury.
PREMIUM TIMES’ review of FinCEN files showed that financial records of the former Nigerian leaders were closely scrutinised in relation to investigations about the Malabu OPL245 scandal.
Both men were probed alongside other individuals and companies suspected to have been involved in the controversial scheme.
Details of the probe are part of #FinCEN files, a new investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), BuzzFeed and 108 media partners across the world, including PREMIUM TIMES.
The files are a large volume of confidential financial reports relating to the transaction activities of world leaders, terrorists, drug dealers and money launderers.
The investigation involved 16-month collaborative work involving more than 400 journalists in 88 countries.
The files include a large number of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed by banks and other financial institutions to the U.S. Government as required by the Bank Secrecy Act, with the total amount in suspicious transactions reported being $2 trillion ($2,099584,477,415.49).
Fresh Details
A review of the #FinCEN files showed that individuals pencilled for investigations in connection with the Malabu OPL 245 saga included Messrs Obasanjo and Jonathan, Ednan Agaev (former Russian diplomat and project consultant), Daniel Etete (former Nigerian petroleum minister), Mohammed Abacha (son of former Head of State, General Sani Abacha), Abubakar Aliyu (Abuja-based businessman and property merchant), among others.
The documents indicated that based on a request from FinCEN, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas (“DBTCA”) kept a close tab on all fund transfers related to the named individuals and companies that passed through its network, especially those connected to Malabu OPL 245.
As part of the inquiry, DBCTA conducted a search of its wire transfer database for transactions occurring between January 1, 2010, and June 21, 2013, involving individuals and companies American authorities suspected may have benefited from the Malabu largesse.
This search identified three hundred and ten (310) transactions, totalling $761,263,590.63, sent and received during the period — all in amounts ranging from $300 to $400,000,000.
However, within the period under review, #FinCEN found that there were no transactions involving Mr Jonathan.
There were also no transactions involving Systems Numeric, Novel Properties and Development, Novel Properties, Daniel Etete, Mohammed Abacha and Diane Detalle-Arnold, a British artist whose connection to the Malabu saga remained unclear.
In the case of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, there were also no transactions related to Malabu. The 29 financial transactions associated with him during the period were linked to his charity works, payments for international travels, honorarium for speaking engagements, transfers to family members and payment for other domestic concerns.
Some parties standing trial or testifying in the long-running Malabu trial in Italy have mentioned Messrs Obasanjo and Jonathan as playing some roles in the infamous saga. But the former presidents have consistently rejected allegations they benefited from the transaction or engaged in any wrongdoing.
Mr Obasanjo governed Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, while Mr Jonathan was president between 2010 and 2015. Both men were elected presidents on the platform of the then ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP.
Other Details
Further checks through #FinCEN, however, revealed details of transactions made by a controversial businessman named in the scandal, Abubakar Aliyu, and some companies through which huge funds were moved.
Mr Abubakar is popularly regarded as the owner of one of Abuja’s most luxurious buildings and a friend to a number of Nigerian government officials, past and present.
A PREMIUM TIMES report had detailed how former Minister Etete transferred huge funds from Malabu Oil and Gas bank accounts to those of companies controlled by Mr Abubakar.
In 2016, Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), filed money laundering charges against him for roles the agency claimed he played in the Malabu $1.1 billion saga.
He is being prosecuted alongside former Minister Etete, a former Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke; Malabu Oil and Gas; and five other companies he (Mr Abubakar) allegedly controls.
He is also being tried in Italy for his role in the matter.
The FinCEN files showed that there were fifty-seven (57) transactions involving Mr Abubakar, totalling $113,336.
The Bank to Bank Instructions for the transactions included details like “Travelling Expenses”, “Estacode Allowance”, “Accommodation Fees”, “Allowance”, “Feeding Allowance”, “School Fees for Aliyu Abubakar (B Int’l Business Admin) and “Upkeep”.
Aside from those of Mr Abubakar, other accounts that were checked included those of Malabu Oil and Gas, Rocky Top Resources Limited, AS Sunnah Bureau De Change Limited, Mega Tech Engineering Limited, Megatech Engineering, Megatech Engineering Construction, Mega Tech Engineering and Construct Equipment Est, Pt Megatech Engineering, A Group Construction Company Ltd, and Imperial Union Limited.
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