How A Governor Tried To Use Femi Falana To Launder N405million
Falana, whose testimonial is contained in the current edition of ALERT, a monthly pull-out by the EFCC, pleaded with his colleagues to be wary of briefs from politically-exposed persons (PEPs).
Falana said the governor had asked him to assist in moving a huge sum of
money to an undisclosed country and offered to pay him £1 million
reward for his service but he declined outright.
The no-nonsense lawyer said:
“The governor asked me to assist him in transferring money abroad, and
that I should claim it to be proceeds from sale of his property in
Nigeria. “And the price was extremely attractive. He was going to pay me
a million pounds then, when money was money.
“The governor said he had chosen me for the shady deal, because ;nobody will suspect you'.
“I told him, ‘Your Excellency, so it is my reputation you want to buy with your one million pounds?’
“Some of my colleagues thought I was stupid, but those who accepted the
[fraud] offer later found themselves in trouble, as they were arrested
and humiliated...”
He advised lawyers against being used by politically-exposed persons to
be careful. He also asked lawyers not to succumb to the lure of filthy
lucre to assist big politicians commit financial crimes.
“Lawyers have a paramount role to play in the fight against economic and
financial crimes, as they are the ones usually employed by well-heeled
members of the society to help perfect documents for illicit
transactions, and to cover up their tracks.”
