EFCC Detains Former Edo Governor Igbinedion Over Alleged N1.6bn Fraud
- After a huge feat by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Abdularasheed Maina and his son, a former governor has landed in the commission's net
- Lucky Igbinedion is currently being probed by the commission for the diversion of some funds meant for the people of Edo state
- The funds in question were said to have been a loan obtained by the government but diverted to a company which Igbinedion is interested in
Fourteen years after leaving office, a former Edo state governor, Lucky Igbinedion is being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to Premium Times, Igbinedion is currently being questioned by the officials of the anti-graft agency in its Abuja headquarters for allegedly diverting N1.6 billion meant for the public.
Source: Facebook
Details of the diversion of funds show that the former governor who left office in 2007 diverted a loan obtained by the Edo state government into the account of a company in which Igbinedion has an interest.
Paying debt of company from public funds
Igbinedion was also said to have used the diverted funds to settle the debt which the company had incurred in the past.
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Also, Vanguard reports that the spokesperson for the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that Igbinedion is currently with the EFCC.
Uwujaren, however, failed to give details of his arrest and detention by the commission.
Recall that Igbinedion after leaving office as the governor of Edo state was prosecuted and convicted by the anti-graft agency in 2008.
The former governor was said to have embezzled N2.9 billion belonging to the government of Edo state.
He was further sentenced to six months in prison on a one-count charge which was drastically reduced from 191 charges.
EFCC secures convictions in court
In what appears to be a great feat for the commission, a former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
Maina was convicted on Monday, November 8, over charges bordering on money laundering and diversion of funds meant for millions of pensioners, some of whom had died, the court said.
Maina's conviction followed the sentencing of his son, Faisal who was also convicted by Justice Okon Abang of the same Federal High Court in Abuja.
Faisal, 21, was sentenced to 14-years in prison on a three-count money laundering charge preferred against him by the EFCC on Thursday, October 7.
He was accused of operating a fictitious bank account with a first-generation bank through which his father, Maina, laundered N58.1million.
Source: Legit.ng
