In a surprising turn of events, the Attorney General’s office has released new legal advice clearing suspended DCP Abba Kyari of money laundering charges in the $1.1 million internet scam involving Ramon “Hushpuppi” Abass.
Following further inquiries into the offence of money laundering, the AGF office stated that there are no links with Kyari because the evidence contained in the case diary is insufficient.
Remember that the AGF admitted in its first legal opinion that the DIG Joseph Egbunike-led Special Investigation Panel had established a prima facie case of money laundering involving 33 payments against Kyari.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Abubakar, wrote a new legal opinion on behalf of the AGF with the reference number DPPA/LA/814/21, emphasizing that the material contained in the case diary had no link between DCP Abba Kyari and Hushpuppi.
The evidence in the case diary “was not sufficient to indicate or show that the said monies (N279 million) were laundered directly or indirectly by Kyari to disguise their origin,” according to the report, which also stated that “the police report on the investigation failed to probe the gaps identified in their investigation by the AGF office.”
The advice titled “Re: Forwarding of the investigation report of the Nigeria Police Force Special Investigation Team and request for legal advice with regards to allegations of criminal conspiracy, aiding and abetting Internet fraud, wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering against DCP Abba Kyari” was addressed to IGP Usman Alkali Baba.
It reads: “I am directed to inform you that after a careful study of the said response wherein you stated that ‘the monies have been traced to account no. 2255416115 belonging to Usman Ibrahim Waziri; account no. 0130665392 belonging to Adekoya Sikiru; account no. 2080537566 belonging to Hussein Ala and other funds went to Sharon Festus’. The monies were withdrawn and utilised by the aforementioned account holders and the lady.
“It is our view that the above response has not linked the suspect, DCP Abba Kyari, to the offence of money laundering as the evidence contained in the case diary is not sufficient to indicate or show that the said monies were laundered directly or indirectly by Kyari to disguise their origin, more so that the aforementioned recipients or receivers exonerated him in their statements as having nothing to do with the monies.”
As a result, the AGF office advised the IGP and Police management to investigate Kyari’s conduct in his capacity as a senior officer and head of the IRT through the Police Service Commission (PSC), which is constitutionally empowered to carry out disciplinary functions for violating the code of conduct for law enforcement officers by hobnobbing with suspected fraudsters and people of dubious means in his capacity as a senior officer and head of the IRT.
DCP Kyari was also liable to be sanctioned for violating the police’s social media policy by responding to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s indictment on Facebook; breaching the Police Code of Professional Ethics by acting on complaints unilaterally without recourse to established protocol; and detaining a suspect, Vincent Chibuzor, for over a month without a valid court order and disregarding his fundamental human rights, according to the new advice.
