A former Head of Service of the Federation, Steve Oronsaye, who was quizzed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over allegations of corruption, is in fresh trouble over new allegations of theft and money laundering.
The former top civil servant, according to EFCC source is being interrogated on fresh allegations of huge fraud in the running of the Presidential Standing Committee on Financial Action Task Force, FATF, which he chairs.
The committee is a policy advisory body to the president on the implementation of the anti money laundering measures.
The Federal Government had constituted the committee pursuant to recommendations of the global FATF for the implementation of FATF recommendations to members and associate countries on corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.
The FATF attaches great importance to the fight against corruption because of its potential to bring catastrophic harm to economic development, the fight against organized crime, and respect for the law and effective governance.
Oronsanye is alleged to have used his position in the committee as conduit to launder public funds and some members of the committee have reportedly provided clues on how he allegedly operated an illegal account in a first generation bank in the committee’s name.
They said the account, which was opened without the knowledge of the committee members, was used by the former HOS to launder hundreds of millions of naira.
Based on the fresh allegations, the former HOS was subjected to additional hours of interrogation and was granted administrative bail late on Wednesday and directed to report to the commission on Friday with key documents relating to the allegations made against him.
Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC head of media confirmed Oronsaye’s interrogation but said he had no details of the allegations against the former head of service.
Appointed Head of the Civil Service of the Federation by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in June 2009 and retired in November 16, 2010, he was indicted in September 2014, by a report of the office of the Auditor General of the Federation for a N123 billion alleged fraud.
The 169-page report, titled “Special Audit of the Accounts of the Civil Pensions”, found Oronsaye guilty of allegedly presiding over the looting of the nation’s resources during his tenure.
The audit by the Auditor General arose from the work of a Special Audit Team constituted by the Federal Government in May 2011 to conduct a comprehensive examination of the accounts of the Civilian Pension Department domiciled in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The audit, which covered the period 2005 to 2010, uncovered monumental financial irregularities, opaque transactions, irregular and abnormal running costs, and outright stealing and kick-backs said to have reached its zenith during the 18 months that Oronsaye served as Head of Service.
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