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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has frozen Patience Jonathan’s personal account in Skye Bank.
The account bears the name, ‘Patience Ibifaka Jonathan’.
Punch quoted EFCC sources as saying on Wednesday that the move became necessary due to the prima facie case established against the former First Lady.
The anti-graft agency has already frozen four companies’ accounts in Skye Bank with a balance of $15,591,700 as part of investigations into alleged diversion of funds against a former Special Adviser to ex-President Jonathan on Domestic Affairs, Waripamowei Dudafa.
The four companies are Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited; Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited; Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Globus Integrated Service Limited.
Jonathan’s wife however deposed to an affidavit, claiming that the money belonged to her.
But her claim did not stop the EFCC from arraigning the companies. They pleaded guilty and the EFCC had already begun moves to ensure that the money is forfeited permanently to the Federal Government.
“She had no evidence that the money in the four accounts belonged to her. All she had were platinum debit cards, which she was using to withdraw money and the cards are not evidence of ownership”, an EFCC detective told Punch.
“Initially, we had traced $5m to her personal account, which we did not touch but I can confirm to you now that the $5m account, bearing Patience Jonathan’s name, has also been seized since she claimed that the monies in the company accounts and the one in her personal name all emanated from the same source.
“We are tracing other accounts belonging to Patience. It will interest you to know that despite all the letters she has written, she has never stated where she got the money from. She claimed to be a housewife and yet she has $20m.”
Patience had recently written a letter to the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, where she claimed that she needed the money for her medical treatment abroad.