Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has taken former Nigerian Senate President Bukola Saraki into custody on charges of theft and money laundering.
Mr Saraki, the former governor of Kwara State, was detained on Saturday, according to sources familiar with the situation, which could lead to another round of trouble for the politician.
Between 2015 and 2019, Mr Saraki served as Senate President, during which time he was accused of corruption and false asset declarations. The Supreme Court acquitted him in June 2018.
However, according to our source, in his new case with the EFCC , Mr Saraki is expected to answer questions about alleged theft and laundering of public funds through a network of cronies and proxy companies.
The alleged proxies who allegedly carried out purported contracts for Kwara State under Mr Saraki allegedly made returns to the former governor for many years, forming a well-organized network of dirty money flow.
According to sources, the funds involved totalled hundreds of millions of naira and hundreds of thousands of dollars at various times.
News Way learned that anti-graft investigators obtained a list of the proxy companies involved and analysed a pattern of suspicious transactions between them and Mr Saraki.
‘ investigation based on interviews with people familiar with the property, one of them has been allegedly responsible for funding Mr Saraki’s lifestyle, including paying over a hundred million to settle bills for rent and renovation of Mr Saraki’s Maitama residence.
