More than 16 companies linked
with fictitious contracts awarded
by Bala had been under
surveillance and their owners
grilled by EFCC.
The anti-graft agency quizzed Shamsudeen, Hammoud and top
directors of the Federal Capital
Territory administration,
including that of Treasury,
Ibrahim Bomoi; Land, Babayo
Mainasara, and Abuja Geographical Information
Service (AGIS), Ms Jamila
Tangaza.
Tangaza, who had been in
detention in the past one week,
was battling for bail as at press time.
She has, however, been linked
to N800 million questionable
contracts to her personal firm
apart from benefiting from plots
of land from the ex-minister. According to investigations, the
ongoing probe of the ex-
minister followed petitions
against him, including
complaints pending since 2013.
It was gathered that following preliminary findings, EFCC
obtained an interim forfeiture
order to confiscate a N650
million house at 1 and 3, Mariam
Mukhtar Street, Asokoro.
The same forfeiture order was secured to seize the ex-
minister’s son three duplexes
costing about N222 million in
the Apo Area of Abuja.
A top source in EFCC, who spoke
in confidence, said: “We are probing the immediate past
Minister of FCT on many
allegations against him,
including award of N1 billion
fictitious contracts; abuse of
office by allocating 12 choice plots to his son and 37 other
commercial plots worth about
N8 billion to Hammoud, who is
suspected to be his front; land
swap, among others.
“Some of the petitions against Bala Mohammed had been
pending since 2013. Initial
findings showed that the ex-
minister used fictitious
companies to award contracts
worth N1 billion in FCT. In one instance, a man with three
companies was allowed to bid
for one slot.
“About 16 companies used for
fictitious contracts are under
investigation because they did not supply items credited to
them.
“We have also uncovered how
Bala allocated plots of land to his
friends, business partners.
For examples, he allocated 12 plots of land to his son,
Shamsudeen, and 37 commercial
plots of land to his business
front called Tariq Hammoud.
“Some of those quizzed so far
confessed that Bala used unconventional methods in
raking illicit funds and
laundering same. Each time the
ex-minister allocated a plot of
land, he would find out the
market value and ask you to pay half of the amount to him in
cash.
“For instance if a plot of land was
N2 billion, Bala would ask for N1
billion cash from the prospective
buyer. He was smart in collecting cash.
“But the EFCC has traced
allocation of 37 commercial plots
to Hammoud and how N8billion
was made from it. In fact, we
saw a proposal by Tariq Hammoud to sell some of the
plots.
“So far, our operatives have
arrested, detained and quizzed
Shamsudeen. He is presently on
administrative bail. We have also interrogated Hammoud.”
Responding to a question, the
source said: “Based on
substantial findings, we
approached the court to obtain
an interim forfeiture order to seize a N650million from the ex-
FCT Minister.
“What happened was that the
former minister allocated some
plots of land to Aso Savings and
they bought the N650 million house for him at Nos. 1 and 3,
Mariam Mukhtar Street, Asokoro
District.
“The EFCC has confiscated three
duplexes totalling N222million
which were acquired by the ex- minister’s son.
“We invoked sections 28 and 34
of the EFCC (Establishment Act)
2004 and Section 13(1) of the
Federal High Court Act, 2004
which empower the anti-graft agency to invoke Interim Assets
Forfeiture Clause.
“Section 28 of the EFCC Act reads:
‘Where a person is arrested for
an offence under this Act, the
Commission shall immediately trace and attach all the assets
and properties of the person
acquired as a result of such
economic or financial crime and
shall thereafter cause to be
obtained an interim attachment order from the Court.’”
On the fate of the ex-minister,
the source said: “We are
investigating him, we are yet to
invite him for questioning.
Certainly, we are closing in on him.”
The source added that EFCC had
grilled top directors of the FCT
administration. “As for Ms Jamila
Tangaza, we arrested and
detained her because she was connected with the land scam
and abuse of office.
“The ex-minister asked her to
resign her appointment with BBC
and appointed her as a Senior
Special Assistant on Media and Information. But Bala allocated
some plots of land to her to sell
in order to acquire a mansion in
Asokoro District too. Her house
was allegedly worth
N158million. “Also, Jamila allegedly abused
her office by awarding
N800million contracts to her
company which is called
Songbird Multimedia.
“Her case was interesting. When she registered the company with
the Corporate Affairs
Commission, she used a fictitious
name as the CEO of the company
but she is the sole signatory to
the company’s account and her phone number is the point of
contact with the firm.
“We have sent her signature on
CAC document and other
specimen signatures collected
from her to a forensic laboratory. Following a court order, we
detained her in the past few
days but as at Friday, she was
pleading that we should grant
her bail. We are looking into her
request.” The top source denied
insinuations that the ex-BBC
correspondent was handcuffed
when she was taken to her
office for a search.
The source added: “You can verify from her what transpired.
From custody in EFCC, we went
with her to her office to recover
some documents. We used the
EFCC bus but along the way, she
begged us to park the bus away from the vicinity of AGIS where
she is a director. She did not
want her staff and others to
notice that she was brought to
the office by EFCC team.
“We obliged her request by parking outside AGIS. We also
didn’t allow policemen in
uniform to follow her to the
office. We assigned plain-clothe
operatives and even asked her if
she wanted the only lady in our team to follow her so that Jamila
can blend with the crowd in
AGIS without anyone suspecting
anything.
“She said all plain clothe
operatives can follow her. We did not put her in handcuffs. This
is the extent we went based on
her request to protect her
reputation and integrity. The
story of Jamila being handcuffed
was rubbish.”
with fictitious contracts awarded
by Bala had been under
surveillance and their owners
grilled by EFCC.
The anti-graft agency quizzed Shamsudeen, Hammoud and top
directors of the Federal Capital
Territory administration,
including that of Treasury,
Ibrahim Bomoi; Land, Babayo
Mainasara, and Abuja Geographical Information
Service (AGIS), Ms Jamila
Tangaza.
Tangaza, who had been in
detention in the past one week,
was battling for bail as at press time.
She has, however, been linked
to N800 million questionable
contracts to her personal firm
apart from benefiting from plots
of land from the ex-minister. According to investigations, the
ongoing probe of the ex-
minister followed petitions
against him, including
complaints pending since 2013.
It was gathered that following preliminary findings, EFCC
obtained an interim forfeiture
order to confiscate a N650
million house at 1 and 3, Mariam
Mukhtar Street, Asokoro.
The same forfeiture order was secured to seize the ex-
minister’s son three duplexes
costing about N222 million in
the Apo Area of Abuja.
A top source in EFCC, who spoke
in confidence, said: “We are probing the immediate past
Minister of FCT on many
allegations against him,
including award of N1 billion
fictitious contracts; abuse of
office by allocating 12 choice plots to his son and 37 other
commercial plots worth about
N8 billion to Hammoud, who is
suspected to be his front; land
swap, among others.
“Some of the petitions against Bala Mohammed had been
pending since 2013. Initial
findings showed that the ex-
minister used fictitious
companies to award contracts
worth N1 billion in FCT. In one instance, a man with three
companies was allowed to bid
for one slot.
“About 16 companies used for
fictitious contracts are under
investigation because they did not supply items credited to
them.
“We have also uncovered how
Bala allocated plots of land to his
friends, business partners.
For examples, he allocated 12 plots of land to his son,
Shamsudeen, and 37 commercial
plots of land to his business
front called Tariq Hammoud.
“Some of those quizzed so far
confessed that Bala used unconventional methods in
raking illicit funds and
laundering same. Each time the
ex-minister allocated a plot of
land, he would find out the
market value and ask you to pay half of the amount to him in
cash.
“For instance if a plot of land was
N2 billion, Bala would ask for N1
billion cash from the prospective
buyer. He was smart in collecting cash.
“But the EFCC has traced
allocation of 37 commercial plots
to Hammoud and how N8billion
was made from it. In fact, we
saw a proposal by Tariq Hammoud to sell some of the
plots.
“So far, our operatives have
arrested, detained and quizzed
Shamsudeen. He is presently on
administrative bail. We have also interrogated Hammoud.”
Responding to a question, the
source said: “Based on
substantial findings, we
approached the court to obtain
an interim forfeiture order to seize a N650million from the ex-
FCT Minister.
“What happened was that the
former minister allocated some
plots of land to Aso Savings and
they bought the N650 million house for him at Nos. 1 and 3,
Mariam Mukhtar Street, Asokoro
District.
“The EFCC has confiscated three
duplexes totalling N222million
which were acquired by the ex- minister’s son.
“We invoked sections 28 and 34
of the EFCC (Establishment Act)
2004 and Section 13(1) of the
Federal High Court Act, 2004
which empower the anti-graft agency to invoke Interim Assets
Forfeiture Clause.
“Section 28 of the EFCC Act reads:
‘Where a person is arrested for
an offence under this Act, the
Commission shall immediately trace and attach all the assets
and properties of the person
acquired as a result of such
economic or financial crime and
shall thereafter cause to be
obtained an interim attachment order from the Court.’”
On the fate of the ex-minister,
the source said: “We are
investigating him, we are yet to
invite him for questioning.
Certainly, we are closing in on him.”
The source added that EFCC had
grilled top directors of the FCT
administration. “As for Ms Jamila
Tangaza, we arrested and
detained her because she was connected with the land scam
and abuse of office.
“The ex-minister asked her to
resign her appointment with BBC
and appointed her as a Senior
Special Assistant on Media and Information. But Bala allocated
some plots of land to her to sell
in order to acquire a mansion in
Asokoro District too. Her house
was allegedly worth
N158million. “Also, Jamila allegedly abused
her office by awarding
N800million contracts to her
company which is called
Songbird Multimedia.
“Her case was interesting. When she registered the company with
the Corporate Affairs
Commission, she used a fictitious
name as the CEO of the company
but she is the sole signatory to
the company’s account and her phone number is the point of
contact with the firm.
“We have sent her signature on
CAC document and other
specimen signatures collected
from her to a forensic laboratory. Following a court order, we
detained her in the past few
days but as at Friday, she was
pleading that we should grant
her bail. We are looking into her
request.” The top source denied
insinuations that the ex-BBC
correspondent was handcuffed
when she was taken to her
office for a search.
The source added: “You can verify from her what transpired.
From custody in EFCC, we went
with her to her office to recover
some documents. We used the
EFCC bus but along the way, she
begged us to park the bus away from the vicinity of AGIS where
she is a director. She did not
want her staff and others to
notice that she was brought to
the office by EFCC team.
“We obliged her request by parking outside AGIS. We also
didn’t allow policemen in
uniform to follow her to the
office. We assigned plain-clothe
operatives and even asked her if
she wanted the only lady in our team to follow her so that Jamila
can blend with the crowd in
AGIS without anyone suspecting
anything.
“She said all plain clothe
operatives can follow her. We did not put her in handcuffs. This
is the extent we went based on
her request to protect her
reputation and integrity. The
story of Jamila being handcuffed
was rubbish.”
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