N31bn Fraud: EFCC Places Restriction on Bank Accounts of Reps and PDP Chieftains

Posted by Lolade on Thu 24th Dec, 2015 - tori.ng

Access to bank accounts of some members of the House of Representatives and PDP chieftains have been restricted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

EFCC officials

Deposit Banks have received a directive to restrict the accounts of some suspects in the alleged N31billion Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) sluch funds.

Affected are some House of Representatives members, some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chiefs and some companies.

Also, some accused persons on trial in connection with the ongoing probe of the ONSA cannot access their accounts.

All the banks, where the accounts of those affected are domiciled, have been asked to Post No Bill (PNB). Those on the restricted list cannot access their accounts and all funds being remitted into them must be reported.

The ban will remain until the trial of most of the accused persons has been concluded.

It was learnt that the anti-graft agency does not want most of the accused persons and beneficiaries from ONSA funds to tamper with what is left in their accounts.

A source in the EFCC said: “The PNB is limited to accounts where the slush funds were deposited and other traceable accounts . In some instances, we obtained court orders to freeze a few accounts.

“We decided to place restriction as part of our ongoing investigation into the scandal. We have informed all relevant banks that we are probing some transactions relating to such accounts.

“Those affected are the accused persons and all those named as having benefited from the disbursement of funds. The list is longer than you have been reading about. On the list are companies, individuals serving as fronts, accused persons, PDP stalwarts, and some serving or former members of the House of Representatives."

“We want to be at an advantage where we can recover looted funds as may be determined by the court,” the source added.

Meanwhile, ex-National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki and others yesterday perfected their bail conditions. They were awaiting their release last night.

A judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Peter Affen, banned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from re-arresting Dasuki, ex-Minister Bashir Yuguda, ex- ONSA Director of Finance, Shuaibu Salisu, Sagir Attahiru and ex-Governor Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa.