UAE stops $517m transfer by ex-governor

An attempt by a yet to be identified former Nigerian governor to transfer $517million out of United Arab Emirates to Dominican Republic has been blocked by the authorities.

A report said the former governor hit a brickwall because UAE money laundering laws are now strict.

Nigeria had signed a “Judicial Agreement on Extradition, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters, and Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal and Commercial Matters, which includes the recovery and repatriation of stolen wealth”, in the course of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit last January.
A Federal Government team, comprising the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu and crack detectives from the anti-graft agency, are in Dubai and have started comparing collated intelligence notes on the PEPs with their UAE counterparts.

The EFCC officials arrived in Dubai on Saturday.
Under the searchlight for stashing away cash or acquiring properties in the UAE are seven former governors, six former ministers, a fleeing presidential aide implicated in the $2.1billion arms deals, ex-military chiefs under probe, agents / fronts of some of these public officers and five chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).