“MONEY LAUNDERING: ALAMIEYESEIGHA AS A METAPHOR”

Written by Abimbola Adeseyoju

Thursday, 13 October 2005

Having been involved in offering Know Your Customer (KYC) solutions in Nigeria for the past 10 years and also presently organizing Anti-Money Laundering training and consulting, I believe I should contribute my views to the ongoing trial of the Governor of Bayelsa State in a London court.              The truth is, if all the provisions of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act (MLPA), 2004 signed into law by President Olusegun Obasanjo in March, 2004 are enforced to the letter, the various prisons in Nigeria will not be enough to accommodate offenders. One is not trying to be an alarmist here, but only showing the level of seriousness with which money laundering issues are now treated. Let us educate ourselves with some provisions of the new legislation. Section one, part one of the MLPA states: “No person or body corporate shall, except in a transaction through a financial institution, make or accept cash payment of a sum exceeding: (a)        N500, 000.00 its equivalent in the case of an individual; or (b)        N2,000,000.00 or its equivalent in the case of a body corporate. Meaning: if you want to purchase any property valued at above half a million naira, it is an offence in Nigeria to pay cash. The transaction must be consummated using a financial instrument such as a cheque or bank draft. The penalty for those who flout this provision is a fine of not less than N250, 000.00 or more than 1 million naira or a term of imprisonment of not less than 2 years or more or both fine and imprisonment. The rationale behind this provision is that cash remains the mainstay of serious and organized criminal transactions including money laundering. This is because cash has the obvious advantage that it leaves no audit trail. To therefore make it easy to trace the origin or source of any money when the need arises, movement of excessive cash must be discouraged. In Britain where His Excellency, Dr. Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha is presently on trial for money laundering offences, similar legislation exist. The threshold for cash transaction within the British economy is given under The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), 2002 and The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA), 2005. I have given this background to lay to rest all the speculations, name calling and blackmail that have been associated with the arrest and subsequent detention of the Governor. What I will first advise all those interested in the case to do is to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, The Proceeds of Crimes Act (POCA), 2002 of the United Kingdom including The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA), 2005. From what we have read in the papers and the fact that properties worth about £10million belonging to the Governor have been frozen by the London Court, then his defense lawyers better wake up to the reality. For if it is proven, for example, that the Governor paid cash for his house in London, then the case may not be as easy as the “Ijaw Nation” wants us to believe. What everybody should understand from today is that the fight against money laundering is now operating at the highest level internationally. Most especially since the September 11, 2001 terrorists attack on the Twin Towers in the USA. Since terrorists financing has been linked with Money laundering, nobody wants to joke with that anymore. Those quoting treaties signed in 1800 or early part of the 1900 should wake-up to the fact that we now live in a different world. The fact that the London Court has pronounced that the Governor enjoys no immunity against prosecution should send the right signals that money laundering issues are now as serious as Terrorism, Crimes-Against-Humanity, or drug trafficking. This brings us to our first lesson: The present travail of the Governor should be a wake-up call to all those we call Politically Exposed Persons (PEP). On the list are: The President, Vice President, Ministers and Advisers at the federal level, Senators, Members of the House of Representative, members of all States Assembly, Governors, Commissioners, and Advisers at the state level, Local Government Chairmen and Councillors, Head and Board Members of state-owned companies, Senior Judges, Senior Party functionaries, traditional rulers, senior and influential representatives of religious bodies, senior and influential members of the police, armed forces and other security agencies. INCLUDING THEIR FAMILIES AND CLOSE ASSOCIATES. It is Governor Alameieyseigha today; it could be a Senator tomorrow or even a traditional ruler. Lesson Number Two: The fight against money laundering is a global war. As someone that has been involved in rendering Know Your Customer (KYC)services to companies and organisations all over the world for the past 10 years and presently offering Anti-Money laundering training, I know that the war against money laundering now in Nigeria has gone beyond the Presidency or the person of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. For those that do not know, Nigeria together with such unknown states such as Nauru and Myanmar are the only 3 countries in the world blacklisted as Non-Cooperative Countries & Territories (NCCT) on issues relating to money laundering. Is this not a big shame on all of us? All hands must therefore be on deck to get Nigeria off that list. Lesson Number three: Due to the treaties signed by Nigeria on Anti-money laundering strategies, there is now a very strong cooperation among all related agencies all over the world. The fact that officials of the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) are reported as co-operating with the British authorities on the Governor’s case should not be seen as witch hunting. Lesson number four: We must not export our “Ghana Must Go” mentality abroad. We must cultivate the habit of using the financial system to move money and make payment. Lesson number five: There is no longer any hiding place for money launderers. It is now a global village. No matter where the Politically Exposed Person tries to hide his ill gotten wealth, the long arm of the law awaits him. The war against money laundering is a moving train and it is no respecter of any person. Abimbola Adeseyoju is the managing director of DataPro Ltd., and Publisher of moneylaunderingflash.

 

< Prev		Next >

This website is a FREE service, and your contributions to the sustenance of Elendureports.com does not entitle you to anything or create any obligations between you, the publisher, editors, and staff of Elendureports.com.
Elendureports.com is a for-profit company, and any contributions made are purely voluntary and not tax deductible.