Nigeria and the United States of America government might be heading for a diplomatic row over the decision of the latter to freeze some of the accounts of the country's embassy in Washington, DC.

Bank of America, M&T Bank and Wells Fargo received directive from the US government to close the accounts of the Nigerian embassy in Washington and its consulate in New York on suspicion of money laundering after traffic on the various accounts raised a red flag.

The decision is sequel to intelligence report generated by a panel comprising representatives of the US Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Department of Treasury, unknown to Nigerian embassy officials, to monitor wires and traffic in all the accounts operated by the embassy.

A credible online website http://www.huhuonline.com/ had reported yesterday that the US on Wednesday vowed to ignore a request by the federal government urging Bank of America and Wells Fargo to unfreeze Nigerian embassy's bank accounts in Washington, DC, and New York.

The move, according to sources, is setting the stage for a potential showdown between the two countries with Nigeria also threatening to reciprocate by freezing the US embassy's accounts in the country.

The online media stated that about $3.6 million dollars was said to have entered and left the accounts in under a month, the latest transaction being the withdrawal of $50,000 in hard cash by a top embassy staff.

In rejecting the federal government's request, a source in the State Department was quoted as saying, "The Nigerian embassy was unable to respond to requests for clarification about payments and transactions into the account and there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accounts are being used as channels for money laundering and other financial crimes.''

The source, who said the move was not targeted at the country's embassy alone, told the online news blog that the embassies of two other unnamed African countries were affected by the freeze.

More: http://channelkoos.com/index.php/news/1782-money-laundering-us-govt-freezes-nigerian-embassys-accounts

Good move by U.S. Since our politicians only know Ђδω τ̅o steal wit impunity, they deserve such treatment. Go τ̅o any kind of fight wit †ЂΞ US & get crushed!

can the UK and Canada do same pls. am loving the new twist of events

Praise the lord. God is catching them..God is hearin nigeria's prayer and oepning dia yash. A good one their .let switzerland pls freeze all nig acc dia and let dem come cleraify themselves

super power of the world, please help breakup this useless country

We are watching. Nigerian politicians don't care about Nigeria. All they care about is how to line their pockets. I don't know why corruption seems to be the bane of our existence as Nigerians. Its quite shameful. I hope Switzerland follows suit.

@@@@

freeze gadaffi

freeze saddam acount

feeze that

and where does the money go?

Excellent news!!!!!!!

[size=14pt]We Nigerians support the USA against our thievery government![/size]

Dear USA,
Seize the money and increase Nigeria's quota for DV lottery 2014.
Thanx in anticipation of your acquiescence in my plea.

Yours faithfully,
Voice of Nigeria

USA, is $3.6 million dollars too much money to go through an account in a month ? Is $50,000 too much money to be withdrawn in cash by a country rep ? I am sick of this propaganda What is going on ? Is there something USA is trying to tell us ?

Billyonaire: USA, is $3.6 million dollars too much money to go through an account in a month ? Is $50,000 too much money to go through an account in cash What is going on ? Is there something USA is trying to tell us ?

$50,000 in cash, whats the explanation behind this kindda mad withdrawal, see how individuals are withdrawing the nations money like say na their papa own, any reasonable goverment would have probed such, its only in Nigeria where crap like that goes on without anything being done

ikeyman00: @@@@

freeze gadaffi

freeze saddam acount

feeze that

and where does the money go?

Is it not better the money even stays with them than stay in teh hands of these greedy thieving leaders we have here, better anyone else than them.

chuckdee4:

$50,000 in cash, whats the explanation behind this kindda mad withdrawal, see how individuals are withdrawing the nations money like say na their papa own, any reasonable goverment would have probed such, its only in Nigeria where crap like that goes on without anything being done

What are you talking about ? You could tell me its against US policy that one can not withdraw up to that in their country, but $50k is not money, business owners withdraw 5 times of that daily in Nigeria.

Billyonaire: What are you talking about ? You could tell me its against US policy that one can not withdraw up to that in their country, but $50k is not money, business owners withdraw 5 times of that daily in Nigeria.

Nigeria embassy is not a business.

Nigerian politicians keep disgracing themselves by their stealing. It's now in America, the think they are smarter than the FBI.

lol- why did they keep the money in foreign banks? Shouldnt they be supporting Nigerian banks? Arent there any nigerian banks in america?

justwise:

Nigeria embassy is not a business.

I see, I thought our embassy is "sovereign" and Nigerians who are applying for the Green Card under option EB-5 can route funds securely to investments to avoid being scammed by greedy Americans, is this not within the law to do so ?

Those of you praising the US I shake my head in chinese for you guys. The Nigerian embassy represents the entity nigeria in the US,I repeat they have no justifiable rght whatsoever to freeze the account of a country. Cn they tru that rubbish witj the UK or Russia
If a diplomat withdraws 50k in a day what's wrong with that,abeg they should just tell us their ulterior motives rather than trying to play smart.

The accounts of all the Nigerian political thiefs should be freezed as well.

Billyonaire: I see, I thought our embassy is "sovereign" and Nigerians who are applying for the Green Card under option EB-5 can route funds securely to investments to avoid being scammed by greedy Americans, is this not within the law to do so ?

Yes embassy is sovereign but that doesn't mean they are above the law of a host country.

ONE GOOD NEWS FOR NIGERIANS ATLEAST.

Waiting for reuben abati's response

U just voiced my thought. Wat is 3.5mil in a month. Nigerians are so gullible in that they eat, swallow and digest any info or gossip they read.

ifihearam: Those of you praising the US I shake my head in chinese for you guys. The Nigerian embassy represents the entity nigeria in the US,I repeat they have no justifiable rght whatsoever to freeze the account of a country. Cn they tru that rubbish witj the UK or Russia
If a diplomat withdraws 50k in a day what's wrong with that,abeg they should just tell us their ulterior motives rather than trying to play smart.

If you like shake your head in Japanese,
Nigeria is not Russia or Britain

An individual goes to withdraw $50000 cash from Nigerian account for what?
If they are to spend, it should all be done electronically so every spend can be accounted for.

They are not even smart for not having their own private Bank out of the eyes of the US government.

stanelvis: U just voiced my thought. Wat is 3.5mil in a month. Nigerians are so gullible in that they eat, swallow and digest any info or gossip they read.

Accountability!! Accountability!!! Accountability!!!

justwise:

Yes embassy is sovereign but that doesn't mean they are above the law of a host country.

Young man, I have withdrawn over $50k in USA before, you just have to book for it and explain what the funds is used for, its high time you guys stop adoring USA, go to China, go to Singapore, these places are economically more vibrant than USA, China is ruling the world economy and I dare say, USA is hating Nigeria and Nigerians.

queensmith: lol- why did they keep the money in foreign banks? Shouldnt they be supporting Nigerian banks? Arent there any nigerian banks in america?

They don't keep it there, they usually transfer it into the said account from Nigeria (PLACEMENT), then quickly withdraw it in cash bit by bit from the embassy's account, then it can be used in buying houses and luxury items (LAYERING). They can now sell this items by telling the buyer to pay the money into a personal account, then it would seems as if the money is gotten by legitimate means i.e sale of properties (INTEGRATION), thereby concealing the original source of the money.

It's not common to use embassies to launder money but trust Nigerians to be very creative when it comes to fraud. The US authorities have done a good job by beaming their search light on embassies. Only God knows how much would have been laundered through this means before it was discovered.

Nice one uncle sam.swittzerland shd do same

Billyonaire: Young man, I have withdrawn over $50k in USA before, you just have to book for it and explain what the funds is used for, its high time you guys stop adoring USA, go to China, go to Singapore, these places or economically more vibrant than USA, China is ruling the world economy and I dare say, USA is hating Nigeria and Nigerians.

Who do we ask? I take that as made-up story.

Can i just remind you that US is not China or Singapore, they have different banking rules and laws.

LMAOOOOOOOOOOo at Nigeria, a third world country, trying to reciprocate same with US, a world power. LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..
Can GEJ administration get any more clueless? They now think every country is South Africa.
Maybe is the time God wants to answer our prayers to either divide this country or remove this administration. When the US directs its attention in the Nigerian cesspit.

ikeyman00: @@@@

freeze gadaffi

freeze saddam acount

feeze that

and where does the money go?

That's the point: the money goes nowhere!