OFFICIALS of the Manufacturers and Traders Trust Bank (M & T Bank), United States (US), on Tuesday, disclosed that bank accounts of the Nigerian embassy were at no time frozen, adding that the accounts of the embassy was only closed to allow them meet up with the new government’s regulations on money arriving from abroad.This disclosure came few days after President Goodluck Jonathan, during a presidential media chat on national television and radio, directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate accounts of the Nigerian Embassy in the US, over alleged money laundering.
The president was reacting to a newspaper report that the US government had frozen the embassy’s accounts in the US over allegation of money laundering.
However, contrary to media reports that the accounts were frozen due to money laundering activities, the vice-president of M&T Bank, Mr Peter Senica, said “at March 31, 2012, the Nigerian Embassy received a cheque for the balance on the account, minus any service charges if any,” adding that “the account of the embassy of Nigeria had no red flag for money laundering activities.”
Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Professor Adebowale Adefuye, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, in an online chat on Wednesday, acknowledged the closure of the account by M & T Bank, but denied any allegation of money laundering activities, saying that “we have never operated any accounts with Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
“We have nothing to do with the laundering of money on behalf of state governors or other Nigerian public functionaries. The leadership of the Nigerian Embassy in the United States respected the financial policies of the host country and will never encourage fraudulent activities such as corruption and money laundering.”
He said the closure of the account was “a problem faced by many embassies and missions in the US currently, owing to the strict guidelines given to banks by the provision of the Patriot Act.”
An officer at the US Department of Defence and former president of the Nigerian Media Practitioners in Diaspora (NMPD), in Washington, DC, Mr Femi Soneye, also said “the United States has tough legislation against terrorism and financing, the Patriot Act has, in recent times, made a number of changes that are now making it difficult for banks in the US to manage the accounts of foreign missions, it’s not a problem of the Nigerian Embassy. It has affected over 51 embassies in the US, including France, China, and other nations.”
Soneye absolved the ambassador of any money laundering allegations, adding that “the Nigerian Embassy was given a cheque for their balance by the bank, as given to China, France and other countries, including the Vatican.
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