ICPC arrests S’Court contractor for alleged money laundering
By Paul Michael
Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested a Supreme Court contractor, Temitope Banjoko, for alleged money laundering and contract scam.
Sources within ICPC confirmed the arrest and detention of Banjoko, the managing director of Asbat Construction Limited on Tuesday while noting that the construction company was allegedly awarded a contract worth N46,305,000 (N41,674,500 after tax deductions) for the demolition of four houses and evacuation of debris at the Justices’ residences in Maitama, Abuja, in 2017.
The sources added that though the full sum was disbursed to Asbat Construction Limited, however, the contract was not executed, which prompted the investigation of ICPC.
It was also confirmed that during the interrogation of the suspect and in his statement, the contractor claimed to have utilised the money for something else and expressed regrets that some funds he was expecting were not forthcoming. An act, which is against the law.
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However, the owner of the company, Banjoko was said to have made a commitment to repay the money after the ICPC began probing the matter, but out of the contract sum, the contractor had only been able to repay the sum of N5 million, leaving a net balance of N36,674,500.
According to the sources, the investigations carried out by the ICPC revealed that some of the houses earmarked for demolition have been renovated and are now occupied by new judges.
This indicates that the houses were not intended to be demolished but to siphon money out of the system.
ICPC is expected to charge the contractor to court in the coming days.
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