Local: Two Chinese arrested by EFCC for offering N100m bribe to official
Meng Wei Kun and Xu Kuoi has been
arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Sokoto Zonal
Office, for offering its Zonal Head, Abdullahi Lawal, N50 million alleged
bribe.
In a release yesterday in Abuja by its
spokesman, Dele Oyewale, the EFCC announced that the suspects had been arrested
in Sokoto on Monday 11 May 2020. According to Oyewale, the suspected bribery
was given in a desperate attempt to undermine the ongoing investigation of the
construction firm, China Zhonghao Nigeria Limited, to manage N50 billion state
government contracts between 2012 and 2019.
He further disclosed that the zonal
office was investigating the construction company in connection with contracts
for the construction of township roads in Gummi, Bukkuyun, Anka and Nasarawa
towns of Zamfara, as well as the construction of 168 solar-powered boreholes in
the 14 councils of the state.
Alarmed by the consistency and
professionalism of investigation being conducted, the company reached out to
Lawal with an offer of N100 million as bribe to ‘bury’ the matter.
In a grand design to trap the corrupt
officials, Lawal played along and, on Monday, two representatives of the
company, Meng Wei Kun and Xu Kuoi, offered him N50 million cash in their office
along Airport Road, Sokoto. The cash was offered as a first instalment. The
suspects were promptly arrested with the cash as evidence, he stated.
Investigations have so far revealed
that China Zounghao Limited has received over N41 billion from the Zamfara
State government, out of which about N16 billion was allegedly diverted and
traced to some bureau de change operators.
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