₦airaland Forum

debosky:
The US senate's claims was based on Jefferson's testimony, which has been proven to be unreliable.

If money laundering is as serious as you say and there was 'conclusive proof', why have no charges been brought against Jennifer or Atiku? Yet Jefferson has been convicted and sentenced.

What you label 'conclusive proof' is simply a list of allegations and nothing more - if there was such good proof, why haven't any indictments been made against him?

You failed to see the 2008 dates, which makes the latest accusations very clearly different from the Jefferson matter which occurred in 2005.
US Court summons cannot be served on the Atiku's since they have fled America. If they ever set foot within jurisdiction of a US court, you can be sure of what will follow. To the US govt, money laundering is only slightly below terrorism.

debosky:
Thanks for the legislation lesson, but this doesn't indicate any evidence of 'conclusive proof'.

That is not the point, and is in fact a deviation from all that has been said so far; which is that Atiku is a wanted man in the US.
Conclusive proof will come in a court after he has been arrested and tried. Until then, he is wanted.

Abagworo stop disgracing yourself!
How do the above quotes exonerate you from the lies you told on this thread?
Address the lies I challenged you about and stop making random, pointless posts.

Damn! Does being a liar mean you should lower your IQ score as well?

^
Money laundering is an extremely serious crime in the US. Atiku and Jennifers names wouldn't have been freely mentioned as guilty of laundering in a US Senate report that was circulated Worldwide, if there wasn't conclusive proof.
Anti-money laundering is a major part of the Patriot Act that came into being after the September 11 twin tower incident.

If Atiku steps into the US, he will be promptly arrested. It was even announced some weeks ago on CNN, that every transaction the Atiku's make Worlwide is being closely tracked by the FBI.

^
Dude, I'm talking about telling lies. Why are you dodging na? Why lie on people?
Its better not to tell lies than create these ridiculous diversions you seem to be getting rather fond of.

debosky:
The claims that Atiku was involved with Jefferson have been disproved in court, so why this rehash of old stories?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/us/06jefferson.html

If indeed Atiku was found 'guilty' of money laundering, where are the convictions? Jefferson simply 'name-dropped' Atiku to get more money for himself.

For someone claiming to be an 'Esquire' he can't even check his facts? Atiku was never the Comptroller of Customs., he was a Deputy Director.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a paid mouth piece of the GEJ organisation, or a joker who can't cross check facts but prefers to peddle rumours.

Where is the evidence that Atiku is a 'wanted' man? Is this based on a 'testimony' from the corrupt Jefferson that cannot be proven?

How about this?

[size=14pt]US SENATE: Atiku Abubakar, Others Brought ‘Dirty Money’ To US Banks[/size]
04/02/2010 17:43:00 JIMS ABRAMS, AP

Foreign dictators, high-living bureaucrats and arms dealers are still able to funnel millions of dollars in potentially corrupt money into the United States despite post-Sept. 11 laws cracking down on money laundering, according to a Senate investigation.
The son of the president of Equatorial Guinea moved $110 million in suspect funds into the United States from 2004 to 2008 while an Angolan arms dealer, now in a French jail, was able to pay $9.6 million for an Arizona home in 2000 and maintained U.S. bank accounts handling some $60 million in transactions between 1999 and 2007, the report found.

The Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on investigations, which wrote the report, has summoned several of the U.S. lawyers, real estate agents and bankers involved in the financial transactions to a hearing Thursday.

The subcommittee chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said that while banks are doing better in blocking dirty money because of anti-money laundering safeguards in the 2001 Patriot Act, there are still "so many vehicles in our system where corrupt money can flow." The findings of the report, which focused on four case studies, are "infuriating," he said.
The 330-page report concluded that powerful foreign officials and their families, known internationally as "politically exposed persons" or PEPs, have used lawyers, real estate and escrow agents, lobbyists, bankers and university officials to circumvent anti-corruption laws.

It noted that the Treasury Department exempted some industries, such as hedge funds and the real estate industry, from Patriot Act anti-money laundering requirements, and that many of the professionals examined were under no legal obligation to take anti-money laundering precautions when dealing with a foreign official.

The four case studies:

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, who used U.S. lawyers, bankers, real estate agents and escrow agents to move $110 million into the United States. The report said Obiang, the subject of an ongoing U.S. criminal investigation, used two lawyers who helped him with shell company accounts, two real estate agents who helped him purchase a $30 million home in Malibu, Calif., and an escrow agent who assisted in buying a $38.5 million Gulfstream jet.

Omar Bongo, president of Gabon for 41 years until his death last year, employed a U.S. lobbyist to buy six U.S.-built armored vehicles and obtain U.S. government permission to buy six U.S.-built C-130 military cargo aircraft from Saudi Arabia.

A bank in New York closed an account of Bongo's daughter, a student, after discovering she had $1 million in $100 shrink-wrapped bills in her safe deposit box, which she said her father had brought into the United States using his diplomatic status.
Jennifer Douglas, a U.S. citizen and fourth wife of the former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, reputedly helped her husband bring more than $40 million in suspect funds into the United States. Some $25 million of that was wire transferred by offshore corporations into more than 30 U.S. bank accounts opened by Douglas. Two offshore corporations transferred about $14 million over five years to American University in Washington, D.C., to pay for consulting services in setting up a university in Nigeria founded by Abubakar.

Prosecutors last year said former Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who received a 13-year sentence for accepting bribes, demanded $100,000 from a Virginia businesswoman to pay a bribe to Abubakar. The Nigerian denied any wrongdoing.

Bank of America did not flag the accounts of Pierre Falcone, the Angolan arms dealer, despite numerous suspicious transactions, the report said. From 1999 to 2003, the accounts received multiple wire transfers totaling more than $6 million from unidentified "clients" from such secrecy jurisdictions as the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Singapore and Switzerland. The bank closed the accounts in 2007.
The report recommended that Treasury adopt recent World Bank proposals to strengthen bank controls related to foreign officials and repeal anti-money laundering exemptions. Congress should require that the owners of shell corporations be named, according to the report, and should make acts of foreign corruption a legal basis for denying U.S. entry to the person involved in the corruption and his family.

A Levin aide said one possibility was attaching anti-money laundering provisions to pending legislation to increase oversight of financial institutions.

http://thewillnigeria.com/mobile/business/3619-SENATE-Atiku-Abubakar-Others-Brought-Dirty-Money-Banks.html

Abagworo:
Which lie?

Look up the thread and reply to the first instance of this quote:

Beaf:
You are lying. I challenge you to provide the exact places where I made the claims that are bolded (the second should be on this page). If you can't do that, then you are a cheap lier.

John Togo is a known armed robber.

Abagworo:
Can I help you?

Yes, you told a lie and I am asking you to own up to it.

jason12345:
it is a public forum and no one has an overall knoweldge. in fact, i believe you are the kid because you have never answered a question about GJ without insults. [size=14pt]i am in my late 20s[/size]. and believe me you cannot throw these insults at me when you see me! it is a fact.

why don't you face the matter at hand instead of insulting, that has been your strategy. answer the questions asked by muza, dayo etc.

be civilised and mature instead of insulting.

. . .And you don't know your village? You still have no identity?
Here I was thinking you were a pimpled teenager! My friend, you are truly lost! Go and ask your parents where you come from, ask them to point you to your village and teach you some of your traditions and culture. You don't even know who you are!

realborn:
Beaf,

To succeed in your exalted deprecating job as an e-spokesman to GEJ, it is imperative you pay attention to details. My previous post on this subject clearly identified Atiku as a joke (please refer to my last sentence, paragraph 1). His poor antecedents speak volume of his paucities.

I absolutely care less what they do with their political lives but not at the expense of the populace. I reiterate once again, you will do your Oga a great deal if you advise him aptly to seek apposite way forward measures to move this country aright.

As for Patience Jonathan, I have no comments. Google search may guide you better on this subject.

Someday, I believe we will be blessed by the Good Lord with a visionary leader whose cerebral capacity will be divinely tuned to lead us to the promise land.

Regards,

Firstly, you are free to post articles of the kind that appeal to you. I am not under any obligation to post things that please you (as they say, the truth is a sword).

The simple matter is that Atiku is a criminal who should not be running, I expect posters to either defend or condemn him not advice that there should be no articles discussing his utterly disgraceful track record. A record that is so bad, he is wanted in the US.

I cannot even imagine how any Nigerian can conclude that a potential president of the country might be arrested on a foreign trip. You mentioned interest in a president with the cerebral capacity to take us to the promised land. How do we hope to get there? How do we identify that leader? By shunning discussions on criminality? I just cannot understand where you are coming from.

My brother, you need to reconsider.

jason12345:
this has nothing to do with where i am from but COMMON SENSE! How does my village relate to the situation of the country? all that matters is that i am a NIGERIAN. [size=14pt]i do not need to know how my people[/size], igbos, yoruba or ijaw think. all i need to know is the problem facing my country and Her citizens.

i know you LOVE GJ. but you have to face realities. you can see that after i put up my comments on GJ, many people are reasoning from that point of view. you cannot just shut people up because they do not support GJ. that shows how undemocratic you are and for GJ, his mentality.

pls dont get me wrong, i don't support Atiku as well. all i want is progress for my people, FOR NIGERIANS!!!

Dude, if at your age you don't even know your village, what is it you know?
I wonder if you are 12 years old or something. You don't care to know your village, yet you want to talk about Nigeria from abroad? Hilarious!

^
You gauge things by soaking yourself in your culture until you know who you are and how your people tick. You will never have the ability to gauge anything while you have no identity, until you find your identity, you will always end up talking in ignorance.

Do you know the name of your village yet? Until you find that fundamental thing out, the joke is on you.

This is great news! We need to create a formula to make GDP growth felt by the common man; that would mean creating opportunities for different types of business from entertainment to high tech to flourish and employ people; it would also mean creating avenues for the masses to obtain the necessary skills for job mobility and satisfaction.
I expect our growth rate to be close to, or more than 10%. We have been one of the Worlds fastest growing economies for some time now.

@Abagworo

Beaf:
You are lying. I challenge you to provide the exact places where I made the claims that are bolded (the second should be on this page). If you can't do that, then you are a cheap lier.

John Togo is a known armed robber.

monkeyleg:
@Beaf,

I know say me with you dey quarel for here, but I know no say you be warri boy? Same here, so which part? if you say middle you mean Okere side. Which ones? how u dey sha before fight continue.

I de fine o! How your side too?
My cutlass too is fine and very sharp!

TORDOO:
Hi guys,lets get somthing straight here about Beaf,he is a mend member;mend is stil in existence and beaf is here trying evry to confuse people that mend is not existing again,Ouestion 4 beaf which group of militant has a code cal jomo gbomo(2)why arest okar after abj bombing(3)why must gej defend mend that is not is existence on abj bombing?the prblm with u is ,u talk too much

And your problem is you neither read nor think, so you are ill informed and always sound like a local meat seller. Read a little more, even the foreign press and foreign security agencies recently concluded that the new Jomo Gbomo is fake and is sending emails from a new email address.

1025:
@beaf,
my point is this, once u are in the FBI wanted list, u cannot be anywhere arround abuja and lagos with your campeign offices here and there. u cannot afford public appearances. fbi is everywhere and even your closest pals are their agents. atiku is an anti govt and as such it will be very easy for them to arrest him and give room for a situation known as extradiction.
apart from atiku, do u know of anyother name on FBI want lists that moves freely. all these things are about knowledge and infromation. u are not informed. atiku has an american university here in nigeria of which americans are employed by this same atiku so u can imagine osama bin laden employing americans in the open-no brother .
if i were u, i would have said atiku is blacklisted not to enter usa and some uninformed ppl can let u go with that but wanted by fbi, no uncle.

so i don't know where u are from.

The fact that he is wanted by the FBI does not equate him with bin laden. You need to understand that Bin Laden is a threat to US security and can be shot dead on sighting. There is no need to stretch arguments to crazy lengths.

Atiku will be arrested the moment he steps in the US. Arrest warrants have been issued for he and his wife.

realborn:
Beaf,

I am piqued at your incessant campaign of calumny against any of GEJ’s opponent. Atiku is just as bad in this context as GEJ (Guess you have forgotten Patience was damned for a similar offence). They both have dumb political similarities of non performance as ceremonial inactive vice presidents.

I strongly advice you concentrate on ensuring your benefactor expedite necessary action to meet the requisite infrastructural and leadership needs of Nigerians other than a farce excitement + uncouth press release over the emergence of a co-looter as a consensus candidate of a myopic few. He should concentrate on the job at hand; must he utter gibberish at the slightest opportunity. The nip of trust held by a few Nigerians (since all the so called aspirants till date are buffoons + your oga inclusive) may be withdrawn if he doesn’t act aptly.

My candid advice, strategise, identify areas that will make maximum impact within the shortest time frame, plan, implement and act where necessary. We will thank you guys more thereafter. For all I care, Jega aint ready for any elections yet. Expend less energy running people down. To think that you all belong to PDP is more disheartning. House of clowns.

It is funny that you should ask me not to tell obvious truths about Atiku. It is even ridiculous. As for your claim against Patience, it is an evil lie and you know it.

Please tell me why you think it is ok for a Nigerian presidential aspirant to be wanted in the US. I find that position absolutely incredible and ridiculous beyond words.
How can you ask to discuss policies, when you are prepared to be led by an international criminal? It boggles the mind!

@fstranger, haka_nai
Please lets not degenerate. fstranger you started it, abeg lets calm down please.

1025:
@beaf,
in all fairness, i know how frustrated u are so i am doing nothing to make u see reason with me.
in a modern society, jonathan will have no option here than to resign because he has failed woefully be it security or otherwise, he no dey try at all.

Just admit you didn't read the thread before blarbing, or are you John Togo (why are you defending the fcker?)? Next time read before jumping in so you won't need to make funny excuses like the above.

To address the nonsensical point you raised anyway; when oil production was cut by 2/3's in Yar Adua's time, did you ask him to resign? Abeg, clear mek pesin hear word jare!! You have no point and worst of all, you sound like the newborn abagworo.

82 Division is in Enugu.

Lets hope this is a super high tech brigade with the minimal requirements for entry being 5 solid o levels and computer literary.
They should also be equiped with drones, multiple warhead missiles and other high tech weaponry.
Heh heh! 9ja gets more interesting!

[img]http://www.army.mil/-images/2009/01/21/28729/size0-army.mil-28729-2009-01-22-020114.jpg[/img]

[size=14pt]Nigerian army creates new brigade to tackle security threat[/size]

Abuja, Nigeria - The Nigerian Army has established a new brigade under it s 82 Division to enable it to effectively tackle rising insecurity as reflected in armed banditry, militancy, bomb attacks and kidnapping, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Azubike Ihejirika, said Tuesday.

'The nation is currently confronting the challenges of increasing threats to internal security. The renewed incidences of Boko Haram, militancy, menace of kidnapping and armed banditry pose serious threat to national security and socio-economic development,' he said at the opening ceremony of the four-day 2010 Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference in the capit al city of Abuja

'Bombing incidents have introduced terrorist dimension to the security situation. These, coupled with the recent discovery of large cache of arms and ammunition at the Apapa port and the illegal trafficking in small arms and light weapons across the country, make the situation very worrisome.

'No effort will be spared in the bid to accomplish this vision and I therefore implore all hands to be on deck to ensure its actualisation,' the army chief added.

President Goodluck Jonathan had earlier charged the Army to be ready to 'do all within its capability to partner with all security agencies to address the security challenges'.

Represented by the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Murtala Shehu Yar'Adua, President Jonathan praised the Army for its 'gallant exploit in Internal Security Operations as well as the various peacekeeping assignments in various theatres across African and beyond.'

Abuja - Pana 24/11/2010

http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/nigerian-army-creates-new-brigade-to-tackle-security-threat-2010112461792.html

monkeyleg:
@ Abagworo,

You have a point, but opposition needs to unite. That is why I see a Pat Utomi / Nuhu Ribadu ticket as a probably the best Nigeria need for now

In what election? The one in the year 2050? Are they even in the same party?
Anyway, mek I waka, because una no serious. I'm done with this joke section thread.

1025:
@beaf,
exactly what i was going to say so thank God u said it so that nobody will ban me for repeating what u said.  U ARE BORN DAFT UNCLE.

when did u and your paid labourers come to terms with all these nonsense u presented above?
in 2007, ribadu and obasanjo said same but what happened between then and now remains the joke. now, u and your write is back to remind us of atiku's criminalities.
what is the constitution of nigeria saying abt criminals and why is the law not taking its course on atiku.
if atiku is a criminal as u have alleged, and jonathan is not doing anything to that effect, i will then tell u that jonathan is a failure and deserve no place in aso rock.

ChidiChris, Atiku is wanted for crimes committed in the US; are you saying Nigeria should arrest him for the US? And lastly, Obj is not GEJ.
So, what point do you have?

blacksta:
Like Jonathan is a saint

Jonathan the saint agrees to suspend case against siemens hence Nigerians who received bribes are free to enjoy their loot. fu cking country

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-555208.32.html

All Nigerians politicans are corrupt

Hellooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

[size=14pt]Siemens Scandal: EFCC docks Maigada, Momife, 2 others[/size]
Headlines Nov 23, 2010 By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA- Former Director of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, Maigada Shuaibu, former Chief Executive Officer of M-Tel, Edwin Moore Momife, ex-General Manager of Finance in NITEL, Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Ossai and a former Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Power and Steel, Mahmood Sadiq Mohammed, were Tuesday arraigned before an Abuja high court sitting at Wuse Zone 2, for allegedly receiving bribes from a multi-national German firm, Siemens Limited.

The quartet who took-turns to enter plea of ‘not guilty’ to the entire 16-counts charge preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were equally granted bail on self recognition by Justice Danlami Senchi.

Justice Senchi before fixing January 31 and February 1, 2010, to hear the substantive case against them, further stressed that none of the accused persons should travel out of the country without permission from the federal government, adding that failure of any of them to appear in court at any of the hearing dates would amount to a revocation of the bail granted to them yesterday.

In the 16-count amended charge filed against them by the EFCC, the four accused persons were alleged to have received for themselves and their family members, air tickets to attend FIFA World Cup in Germany, in addition to receiving frequent sponsored trips to Germany for medical check-ups.

The anti-graft agency insisted that the company made an arrangement with a hospital at Stiftung Deutsche Klinik Fuer Diagnostik Gmbh, International Patientenservice, Aukammalle 33, 65191, Wiesbaden, Germany, where it said both the accused persons and their relations visited frequently between 2002 and 2006.

The offences they allegedly committed were said to have contravened section 96 of the Penal Code Cap 532 LFN (Abuja) 1990 and punishable under section 119 of the same Code.

It will be recalled that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, SAN, on Monday, invoked his powers under section 174 of the 1999 constitution, to order the EFCC to terminate the criminal case it had initiated against Siemens AG, its subsidiary in Nigeria and four of its principal staff involved in the bribery scandal.

The case against the company was withdrawn after it agreed to pay fine of N7 billion to the federal government.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/11/siemens-scandal-efcc-docks-maigada-momife-2-others/

blacksta:
Like Jonathan is a saint


Jonathan the saint agrees to suspend case against siemens hence Nigerians who received bribes are free to enjoy their loot. fu cking country

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-555208.32.html

All Nigerians politicans are corrupt

Siemens has admitted guilt and reached a settlement. The cases against individuals have not been dropped.

playmode:
Is that the best response you can muster.You sound desperate for a not-so-smart person.

No, you do. I am not the one spreading cheap rumours and lies here. You are.

playmode:
IT spells doom for Nigerians when the only two candidates we are debating about is Jonathan and Atiku. In my books these two are not even fit to run a farm talk less of a village not to mention a country. Is this the level we have sank to? Someone here said beaf is an intelligent guy,i beg to defer. Being able to speak "big grammar" does not make you intelligent. Beaf is asking Atiku why he and his wife is wanted by the FBI, Beaf have you asked your mentor and Demi GOD Jonathan why his wife is still not in jail for the money that was confiscated from her at the Airport a few years ago. This is the case of the kettle calling the pot black.
. . .

How about I call you a cheap rumour monger and street corner talker? That event is a lie that never happened, it is spread by those who are too lazy to either research or think.

^
If you know how to read and can comprehend English, go over the thread again and wonder at the way you have gone off on a tangent. What are you replying and what are you talking about?

Na wa o!

Don't make up stories without first reading through the thread, it really isn't smart and makes you end up talking out of point.

hercules07:
@Beaf

The American government could technically arrest him in their embassy as he is deemed to be on American Soil, they can also repatriate him o if they so desire.

And what makes you even believe he was at the US embassy, because he claimed so? How can you believe the words of a liar and thief?
He is a former VP; people like Atiku don't go to the embassy, he is lying as usual.

The day that man enters the US is the day we will see him in handcuffs.

[size=14pt]Atiku Abubakar, Barred from Travelling to the United States[/size]         
Written by Elombah.com     
Tuesday, 14 September 2010 21:22 

“Arrest warrants were issued against Atiku and his runaway wife, Jamila Jennifer Douglas-Atiku and the duo would be promptly arrested if they step on US soil”

In an interview with the Economic Confidential, an online publication, The former vice-president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was quoted as saying: “if the United States was looking for me or my wife, about two or three weeks ago, we were at the United States embassy, here in Abuja, to renew the passports of my children who are American citizens, if I have a case to answer they would have arrested either of us.”

Does Atiku really believe the US Government could arrest him at their Embassy in Nigeria, a Sovereign Independent country and whisk him away? That would be abduction, a la Noriega style!

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was answering a question on the $180m said to have been received between 1996 and 2002 by Nigerian government officials as bribe through a subsidiary of Halliburton, an American company, to facilitate the award of $6bn LNG contracts.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar: (Vice President 1999-2007) is alleged to have received pay-offs in the enterprise. But in the interview, has said that he has no case to answer over the Halliburton bribery scandal.

In almost all the infamous international Bribery scandal that rocked the world between 2008 and 2010 that was prosecuted under the USA Foreign Corrupt Practices Act - Halliburton, Jefferson, Daimler, Willbros and Siemens etc, - Nigeria will be mentioned and the name of one man featured consistently and prominently: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar!

The name of Atiku Abubakar surfaced as one of the alleged beneficiaries of the $6 million bribe distributed by American oil service company, Wilbros Group to secure contracts for the eastern gas gathering system (EGGS) in Nigeria.

On February 5, 2010, Politico says A two-year Senate investigation into foreign corruption has shed new light on two key players in one of Washington’s most infamous scandals of recent years — Atiku Abubakar and his wife, Jennifer Douglas Abubakar. 

In the William Jefferson scandal, the $100,000 that was discovered in a Freezer was to be the first instalment of a bribe to be paid to Atiku Abubakar, then vice president of Nigeria, for his help in gaining approval from the Nigerian telecommunications authority for the deal Mody was financing and of which Jefferson's family was getting an increasingly bigger cut.

Lori Mody, a wealthy businesswoman gave the money to Former Rep. William Jefferson in a parking lot in July 2005, a transaction secretly videotaped by the FBI. When federal agents raided Jefferson’s home in Virginia two days later, they found $90,000 in his freezer.

An undercover FBI special agent had driven Jefferson and Mody to Douglas' home in Potomac, Md., to meet with Abubakar just weeks before Mody gave Jefferson the money, according to legal documents filed by prosecutors. Abubakar was reportedly seeking as much $500,000 to help a company that Jefferson had a secret stake in win a lucrative Nigerian telecom contract. 

A federal investigation of Jefferson’s activities revealed a wide-ranging corruption scheme, and following a lengthy legal fight, the Louisiana Democrat was convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison, the harshest punishment ever handed out to an ex-lawmaker. Neither Douglas nor Abubakar was charged with any wrongdoing. 

[b]However, the Senate investigation alleges that Douglas and Abubakar brought “over $40 million in suspect funds into the United States” from 2000 to 2008 — a prime example, according to investigators, of the ease with which so-called politically exposed persons, foreign officials and their family members, friends and business associates, can move money into U.S. financial institutions without explaining where the money came from. 

The investigation also “substantiated” a $2 million-plus transfer from Siemens AG, a German electronics company, into a bank account controlled by Atiku Abubakar and his wife, Jennifer Douglas Abubakar.

Siemens pleaded guilty in Dec. 2008 to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and paid $1.6 billion in civil and criminal penalties.

Jefferson’s lawyers unsuccessfully sought to depose Abubakar and Douglas, as well another Nigerian businessman, as witnesses for the Louisiana Democrat’s trial, but Atiku and his wife refused to return to the United States to be deposed or testify in the case. 

With tens of millions of dollars from shadowy offshore companies at her disposal, Douglas — Abubakar’s fourth wife — lived a lavish lifestyle in the U.S., according to the report. Her personal expenses sometimes ran to as high as $90,000 per month.

Douglas also spent $14 million on the American University of Nigeria, a Western-style university Abubakar set up in northern Nigeria. The school was affiliated with American University in Washington, where Douglas, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Nigeria, received a doctorate in international relations.[/b] 

The source of Abubakar’s fortune is unclear. He spent roughly 20 years as a Nigerian customs official, starting businesses on the side while still working for the government. He left the Nigerian customs office in 1989 and went into business. Abubakar told the BBC in 2007 that he had gotten wealthy “through wise investments, hard work and sheer luck of being at the right place at the right time.” 

In 1999, Abubakar was elected vice president of Nigeria, a post he held for the next eight years. Abubakar created a blind trust to control his investments. Through a complicated series of moves, the blind trust was taken over by a shell company, which in 2003 started sending millions of dollars to U.S. banks for use by Douglas and an American attorney hired by the couple, Edward Weidenfield. 

[size=14pt]Atiku and his wife, Jennifer Douglas, did not accept summons and subpoenas to appear before the US court.  Instead, they moved their family out to Dubai, and put their Potomac mansion up for sale.

Arrest warrants were issued against Atiku and his runaway wife, Jamila Jennifer Douglas-Atiku and the duo would be promptly arrested if they step on US soil.[/size]

In an interview the Economic Confidential, an online publication, Atiku said he had not received any invitation from authorities in the United States over his purported involvement in the said scandal.

“If anybody has a case let them bring the case. Nobody has even interviewed me (on the bribery scandal). There are no evidences against me. This is just the work of political opponents who will stop at nothing in order to destroy your political career,” the former V.P said.

He was then asked if the Halliburton scandal influenced his preference for travelling to Dubai, instead of the US where he has a home, Atiku told the Economic Confidential that “The United States is not Nigeria. They will call you wherever you may be.

”My wife is a citizen of the United States of America. I was going to the United States because my family was there; my wife took up a job in Dubai as an assistant professor at the American University in Dubai. So we moved.

”I therefore visit my family in Dubai. And if the United States was looking for me or my wife, about two or three weeks ago, we were at the United States embassy, here in Abuja, to renew the passports of my children who are American citizens, if I have a case to answer they would have arrested either of us.”

http://www.elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4008:atiku-abubakar-barred-from-travelling-to-the-united-states&catid=47:politics&Itemid=65

Patrick Obahiagbon is the only genuine voice in the house, the others (aside from Halims Agoda) are a pack of uncaring, irresponsible, highly paid clowns.