EFCC arrests former Kaduna govt’s consultant over alleged N30 billion fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested Bashir Ibrahim, a former Kaduna State government consultant and CEO of Formal Act Legacy Limited, over alleged multiple frauds involving N30 billion.

A statement on Thursday by Dele Oyewale, EFCC’s Head of Media & Publicity, alleged that Mr Ibrahim perpetrated the fraud, disguising as a consultant for the 23 local governments of Kaduna State and other entities.

The statement said he deceived contractors to supply items for projects like hospital construction and boreholes, among other things, including drugs and vaccines. He purportedly received the equipment on behalf of the Kaduna State government. EFCC said he sold some of the items, pocketing the proceeds, and diverted others to personal use.

According to the agency, Mr Ibrahim’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kaduna State government was terminated in October 2023. But he allegedly continued defrauding contractors claiming to remain a consultant for the local governments in the state and other organisations.

Mr Ibrahim also allegedly sold contract award papers to unsuspecting victims using proxies.

“No less than 251 complaints received by the Commission against the suspect pointed to the allegation that Ibrahim is parading himself to unsuspecting victims as a consultant for the 23 local government areas in Kaduna State as well as that of the United Charity Foundation, UCF, FICCORD with affiliation to Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs Office.

“It is also alleged that he informed his victims that he had a 2020 Memorandum of Understanding, MoU with the Kaduna State government for the purpose of sourcing intervention grants from global donor agencies for the funding of LGA projects in the state and supporting the actualization of SDGs within the state,” the statement added.

EFCC said investigations revealed that Mr Ibrahim’s modus operandi involved storing supplies in a warehouse, selling some of the goods, and diverting the proceeds for personal use without settling payments to contractors.

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Recovered items

The anti-graft agency said it recovered a substantial cache of goods and vehicles from Mr Ibrahim.

The recovered items include Toyota Hilux pickup vans, ambulances, buses, dispatch motorcycles, hospital beds, mattresses, heavy-duty generators, and large quantities of drugs and vaccines for children.

A further search of his office store revealed massive stocks of medical supplies, including tablets, capsules, syrups, infusions, ointments, and medical consumables like hand gloves, syringes, and mucus extractors, the statement said.

The EFCC said it is working with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Kaduna State Ministry of Health to evaluate the medicines and conduct qualitative analysis.

It noted on Friday that after inspecting the cache, Umar Suleiman, NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement Officer, reported that while some medicines were still within their shelf life and manufactured by registered companies, others had expired or were outright counterfeits produced by unregistered manufacturers.

Similarly, EFCC said a pharmacist and Team Leader at the Kaduna State Ministry of Health, Abubakar Balarabe,

backed NAFDAC’s findings on the suspect’s medicine cache.

Mr Balarabe noted that some of the medicines had expired and criticized the storage conditions. He emphasized that the warehouse fell below standard, further compromising the quality of the medicines.

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“The storage is not fit for any medicine because of the way and manner it was kept,” the EFCC statement quoted him as saying.

Mr Oyewale said Mr Ibrahim is expected to face charges in court once the investigation is concluded.