EFCC Boss, Lamorde |
The fight against corruption at all levels of
government may not be yielding positive results as politicians are increasingly
using property acquisition and investment in the hospitality business to
launder the money they are stealing from the treasury.
Investigations
by our correspondent revealed that the politicians, who hitherto preferred to
put their money in the capital market and foreign bank accounts, have now
opened their eyes to property acquisition in choice areas in Lagos, Abuja, Port
Harcourt and Kano, among others.
Although
it was gathered that a number of politicians still keep their money abroad, a
large percentage of them now prefer to invest in property because of its easy
conversion to liquid cash and also because it serves as a hedge against
inflation.
The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said during the week that it had
uncovered money laundering schemes in the Federal Capital Territory in which
the perpetrators disguised the proceeds of crime by investing in properties.
The
Chairman, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, said over 270 cases of land scams were
reported to the commission in the last three years.
Globally,
the property market in 2013 was the icing on the cake among various investment
asset classes and in sub-Sahara Africa, particularly Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
STR
Global’s pipeline data had predicted a growth of 61.4 per cent and 26.7 per
cent in hotel supply in Lagos and Abuja, respectively in 2013.
W
Hospitality, which specialises in the provision of advisory services to hotels,
tourism and leisure industries, had also predicted that 5,000 new hotel rooms
would be opened in Nigeria by 2017.
Various
sources told our correspondent many politicians had bought properties not in
their names, but in the names of family members, protégés, loyalists and shadow
business outfits.
“Buying
properties is the best form of tying money down now. The demand is always there
for properties and it does not involve the risk of travelling with cash to
another country. For instance, a lot of politicians will put up their houses
for sale this year so as to be relevant in their parties ahead of the 2015
elections,” a source explained.
The
Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane,
said in an interview with our correspondent that the real estate sector would
continue to enjoy increased patronage.
He
pointed out that the sector would experience a slight lull towards the end of
the year due to increased political activities ahead of the 2015 elections.
“Some
properties may be sold at lower prices to quickly raise funds to sponsor
election campaigns,” Rewane added.
The
President, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Mr. Emeka
Eleh, said, “The property market has always been a good hub for investment, but
during the stock market boom, a lot of politicians moved their money to the
capital market. But after the market collapsed a couple of years back, they all
returned to the property market.”
The
Principal Partner, Kola Akomolede & Co, an estate surveying and valuation
firm, Chief Kola Akomolede, told our correspondent that there would be
increased activities in 2014 being a pre-election year.
He
said, “A lot of politicians will sell their properties in order to raise funds
for the elections. Many of them have investments in properties. After the
collapse of the capital market, a lot of politicians realised that the property
market is a good place to invest money.
“The
property market may collapse but it cannot be like shares; your investment in
property cannot be reduced to zero whereas your investment can be reduced to
zero in shares.”
Larmode
noted that unscrupulous persons involved in money laundering preferred to pay
for property acquisition with cash rather than purchase them with bank
instruments.
According
to him, the laundered funds are frequently converted into foreign currencies
through Bureaux de Change before the purchases are made.
-The Punch
6 comments:
this is a good one, keep it up
i hope they will prosecuted
these property should be seized
this politician keep looting our money and nothing is done about it
criminals
all these politicians have failed us
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