$1.1billion Fraud: British Judge Questions Jonathan’s Integrity, Stops Etete from Getting N17 billion

PREMIUM TIMES is reporting; A British Judge on Tuesday refused to release $85 million (N17 billion) to Malabu, a fraudulent company controlled by Nigeria’s former petroleum minister, Dan Etete.

In refusing to release the money to Malabu, Justice Edis of the Southwark Crown Court declared that he was not sure the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan acted in Nigeria’s interest when it approved the transfer of the money to Malabu.


"I cannot simply assume that the FGN which was in power in 2011 and subsequently until 2015 rigorously defended the public interest of the people of Nigeria in all respects," the judge ruled.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the Jonathan administration controversially approved the transfer of $1.092 billion from Nigeria’s JP Morgan account in London to Nigerian accounts controlled by Malabu.
The money was paid by global oil giants, Shell and ENi, for Africa’s richest oil bloc, OPL 245.

The former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, and the former Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama, signed the documents approving the transfer to Malabu.

The fraudulent deal, shaded in various layers of corruption, has been condemned by Nigerians and international transparency advocates and is being investigated by authorities in four different countries.