Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, says it has been contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to arrest Nigeria’s Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, over his connection with a serial internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas (Hushpuppi).
A top source in the EFCC disclosed this to SaharaReporters on Thursday.
However, the source stated that the case was not within the capacity of the EFCC but for the police to handle.
“FBI has contacted EFCC, asking that we arrest Abba Kyari but we told them that it is a police matter,” the source in the EFCC said.
But when SaharaReporters reached out to the Nigeria Police Force, it conspicuously kept mute over the allegation levelled against its ‘Super Cop’ who has enjoyed praises for his service over the years.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters had earlier reported that a United States’ Court issued a warrant of arrest for Kyari.
Otis Wright of the United States District Court for the Central District of California ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to track down Kyari and produce him in the United States for his role in a multi-million dollar fraud.
Hushpuppi was arrested in Dubai last June and he pleaded guilty to fraud in the US this week.
The FBI said Abbas and Kyari have been friends and were both involved in a conspiracy to launder money.
American prosecutors first sought a court warrant to arrest Kyari on February 12, 2021, according to court documents seen by People’s Gazette.
Another warrant was requested on April 29, 2021.
Judge Wright’s permission for the FBI to arrest Mr Kyari and hold him in US custody was unsealed on July 26.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Hushpuppi narrated how he bribed Kyari to have one of his rivals, Kelly Chibuzor Vincent arrested and jailed in Nigeria following a dispute over proceeds of fraud amounting to $1.1 million.
The money was dubiously taken from a Qatari businessperson.
Abbas pleaded guilty to a multi-million fraud earlier this month and faces up to 20 years in jail.
He will be sentenced in the coming weeks and will forfeit some of his assets and his rights to appeal, while also paying restitution to victims of his fraudulent activities.
Kyari, in a statement on Facebook, has, however, dismissed the allegations of bribe.