After
an explosive comment contained in a recorded conversation recovered by
investigators probing the corruption allegations against Alison Madueke,
it seem the former minister will be going to jail soon.
Diezani Madueke
Former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is being
investigated for a series of multi-billion dollar fraud and money
laundering offences in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and America has
threatened to squeal on his co-conspirators, Kola Aluko and Jide
Omokore.
According to Premium Times,
she said after opening up on everything that transpired in the
controversial fraudulent transactions, she would be ready to be thrown
in jail along with her co-conspirators.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke explosive comment is contained in a recorded
conversation recovered by investigators probing the corruption
allegations against the former minister.
Details of the conversations have now been filed as part of a civil
complaint by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) seeking the
forfeiture of over $144 million slush fund.
The trio of Mrs Alison-Madueke, Mr. Aluko and Mr. Omokore were
listed as persons of interest in the civil complaint filed at the US
District Court, Houston, Texas.
The complaint revealed how the three individuals laundered millions
of dollars on behalf of Mrs Alison-Madueke, which was used in buying
properties in the US and the UK for her family in return for oil
contracts to Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Ltd (AEDC) and
Atlantic Energy brass Development Ltd (AEBD), two shell companies owned
by Mr Omokore.
In the conversation with Mr Aluko recorded by herself on May 14,
2014, a clearly angry Mrs Alison-Madueke, admitted to helping his
co-conspirators secure the multi-billion dollars Strategic Alliance
Agreements (SAAs) deals.
In another conversation with another unknown recipient, the former
minister dared Mr. Aluko to reveal details of their dealings, and then
face the consequences.
She was however furious at how the ostentatious acquisitions of
Messrs Aluko and Omokore might have led law enforcement agencies across
the world to their shady dealings.
She was particularly mad at Mr Aluko’s acquisition of a the
Galatical Star, a $80 million “super yacht”, warning that he could have
rented a yacht for two weeks instead of buying one.
“You and Jide [i.e., OMOKORE] had some of the most support that
we could possibly give. At a time when we’re not doing anything else,
we stuck our necks out regarding the SAA and we supported it.
[INAUDIBLE] How the two of you have ruined it is incredulous and
incredible to all of us,” she said.
“I spoke to you several times about your general behaviour,
acquisition of assets, etc., asking you to be a bit more careful because
[INAUDIBLE] will start following you. I remember we had this open
discussion more than once. You kept telling me that there was no issue
because you did it in a certain way, you did it in a certain—and I kept
telling you that it doesn’t matter how you do it.
“Once you start acquiring, acquiring, acquiring at a certain
level, then you’ll be—whether you like it or not, whether it was done in
the most transparent—you understand?— manner or not, because they will
want to trace where it came from. This is an age of terrorism.
“If you want to hire a yacht, you lease it for two weeks or
whatever. You don’t go and sink funds into it at this time when Nigerian
oil and gas sector is under all kinds of watch, as we have been for
some time, and where Atlantic [i.e., AEDC and/or AEBD] itself has been
the subject of all kinds of speculation,” she said.
Apparently while the trio allegedly schemed to launder billions of
naira that should have accrued to the Nigerian government all was not
well with them. In the recorded conversation, Mrs Alison-Madueke, in
response to speculations that Mr Aluko was going to blackmail her,
threatened to spill the beans.
She said she was ready to reveal to Nigerians all that happened and was ready to follow Messrs Aluko and Omokore to jail.
“I said tell him [i.e., ALUKO] to bring everything out, and
then you know what will happen? No problem, I will be happy to escort
all of you to jail along with myself. I said, in fact, you’ll be shocked
by what I will do. Because when it comes to that, I will come out and
tell the Nigerian people this is what happened.
“Oh, yes, I will blame myself, but it [INAUDIBLE] place and
everything. Anything they want to say, I am happy to go. But I will come
out openly and say it so that they can judge me openly. And then all of
us go and sit on the gate. Let us see who survived [INAUDIBLE], me or
you,” she said.
Mrs Alison-Madueke also acknowledged that the furniture she was
given by the duo of Messrs Aluko and Omokore was not worth more than
$4million.
“The furniture they gave me didn’t come to more than four
million dollars, altogether. [INAUDIBLE] it is truth. I was with
[INAUDIBLE],” she admitted.
Mrs Alison-Madueke, who is reported to be receiving treatment for
cancer in the United Kingdom, is already facing a series of
multi-billion dollar fraud-related investigations by Nigerian and UK
authorities.
Last February a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the forfeiture
of N34 billion linked to her but stashed in several Nigerian banks.
Mr Omokore, an oil businessman, alongside some top officials of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is facing a nine-count
charge of criminal diversion of about $1.6 billion of proceeds of sales
of petroleum products belonging to the Nigerian government.
The Nigerian government is also seeking a world-wide freeze of multi-billion dollar assets owned by Messrs. Aluko and Omokore.
The assets include a $80 million “Super Yatch”, the Galatica and three private jets.
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