$9.7m hidden cash found in Nigeria raid

BBC International News Feb - 12 - 2017 , 11:19

Photos of stacks of money discovered at a building owned by one of Nigeria’s former oil bosses have been posted on Facebook by the country’s anti-corruption body.

Agents from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) conducted the surprise raid on February 3, 2017.

“A special operation… in a building belonging to a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Andrew Yakubu in Kaduna yielded the recovery of a staggering sum of $9.7m [£7.7m] and another sum of £74,000 [$92,500] cash. The huge cash [pile] was hidden in a fire proof safe.”

The money was recovered after intelligence was received that “proceeds of crime” were suspected to be in that area of Kaduna, the EFCC said in a statement.

Mr Yakubu had reported to the commission’s office in the northern city of Kano, admitting his “ownership of the recovered money, claiming it was gift[s] from unnamed persons”, it said.

The former oil executive, who served as head of the state-owned oil company for two years from 2012, was assisting in their investigation, the agency added.