George Uboh, who was convicted for credit card fraud in the United States then deported back to Nigeria, was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday for fraud and forgery. Mr. Uboh was controversially hired by the Attorney General to the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami to locate money in Nigerian banks hidden unlawfully by powerful political and financial interests.
SaharaReporters published an expose on how Mr. Uboh, despite being sentenced to a nine-year prison sentence in the United States for credit card and banking fraud, was hired by Mr. Malami to act on his behalf to identify and repossess stolen assets domiciled in Nigerian banks.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) agents, speaking to SaharaReporters, also revealed that they had arrested Mr. Uboh for contract fraud involving police equipment.
According to a report published by SaharaReporters on April 25th, 2016, Mr. Uboh was sentenced by the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja to three years in prison for his role in orchestrating the equipment fraud. The court convicted him on three charges of criminal breach of trust when he was the Head of Security and Communication Department of the Police Equipment Foundation (PEF).
Sources speaking to SaharaReporters also disclosed that DSS agents conducted a search on properties belonging to Mr. Uboh today.
Mr. Uboh has never denied is fraudulent past or his incarceration in the US for nine years.
Mr. Malami received substantial criticism from the public and banking institutions in Nigeria following the realization that he hired a known criminal. This fueled concerns that Mr. Malami was competent enough to carryout his duties.
See arrest documents below:
