UK : Government to tackle foreign money laundering

Ministers have announced plans to clamp down on a century-old business loophole that they say is being used by foreign criminals to launder dirty money through the UK.

The government said Scottish Limited Partnerships (SLPs), which were introduced in 1907 to help Scottish farmers, are being exploited by overseas criminal gangs.

One laundering scheme used 100 SLPs to shift $80bn in Russian money in just four years, according to government research.

The proposals are the latest in ministers’ attempts to crack down on dirty money as part of a wide-ranging response to Russia in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

Under plans designed to ensure SLPs are being used only by legitimate businesses, users will have to prove they have a genuine connection to the UK and are running a company or maintaining an address in Scotland. Under the current rules, anyone in the world is able to register an SLP.

The changes being put to consultation by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy will also mean anyone setting up a limited partnership will have to pass anti-money laundering checks.

While many SLPs are owned by legitimate businesses, government research suggests others have been part of complex attempts to launder the proceeds of criminal activities.

One scheme is reported to have used 100 different SLPs to move $80bn out of Russia, while other partnerships were found to have been exploited by international criminal networks based in Eastern Europe and used in arms deals.

Announcing the changes, business minister Andrew Griffiths said: “The UK has taken a leading role in the fight against money laundering and is known internationally as a great place to work, invest and do business.

How is money laundering done through property?

“But as we are seeing especially with Scottish Limited Partnerships, is that they are being abused to carry out all manner of crimes abroad – from foreign money laundering to arms dealing.

“This simply cannot continue to go unchecked and these reforms will improve their transparency and subject them to more stringent checks to ensure they can continue to be used as a legitimate way for investors and pension funds to invest in the UK.”

The government has taken a number of steps to stem the flow of dirty money through the UK. Laws due to be introduced this summer will establish a public register of foreign-owned property, while law enforcement agencies have already been given greater powers to identity and recover dirty money.

“Unexplained wealth orders” have also been introduced to compel people suspected of laundering money to prove the source of their earnings.

Ministers believe that cutting the amount of laundered money in the UK is one way to reduce Russian influence amid ongoing tensions following the poisoning of former MI6 spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury

According to Transparency International, £4.4bn worth of properties in the UK were purchased with criminal money, and more than one in five of these were owned by Russians.

Minsters have already tightened the regulation of SLPs. Last year, new laws were introduced requiring users to declare who owned the partnership and publish more details about the ownership structure. The government said this resulted in a 80 per cent drop in the number of new SLPs.

The latest changes will apply to all limited partnerships in the UK. Scottish limited partnerships give users more powers than standard limited partnerships, such as the ability to take on debts or own property in the name of the partnership.

Last month, the Scottish National Party (SNP) urged ministers to stop SLPs being used for criminal purposes.

Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss said: “The Sanctions and Anti Money-Laundering Bill currently going through parliament is an opportunity for the UK Government to crack down on the scourge of Russian money laundering via Scottish Limited Partnerships and similar structures in England." - The Independent

SAD !!! 12 killed in auto accident on Lagos /Ibadan Expressway

Twelve persons were on Saturday killed and five others sustained injuries in an accident involving a Volvo truck and a Ford bus at Foursquare area on Lagos /Ibadan Expressway.

The Public Relations Officer, Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE),Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, who confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) explained that the accident was caused by wrongful overtaking on the part of the Ford passenger bus with registration number AAA 886 XR.

He stated that the truck with registration number LSD 138 XQ, was coming from the opposite direction before the accident.

“The accident happened around Foursquare camp (diversion axis) on the Lagos /Ibadan Expressway.

“17 people were involved, 12 persons comprising six male and six female died while three male and two female sustained injuries, ” he said.

The TRACE spokesman added that the injured victims were taken to Ife – Oluwa Plus A hospital, Ogunmakin while the corpses were deposited at FOS Mortuary, Ipara. - Daily Post

Enugu : Police investigate alleged drinking of rat poison by mother of three

Police Command in Enugu State has commenced investigation into the circumstances that led to an alleged drinking of rat poison by a mother of three in Enugu City.

The command’s spokesman, SP Ebere Amaraizu, said in a statement on Sunday in Enugu that the incident occurred on April 28.

Amaraizu said that the incident took place at number 10 Umuezeoha Ojotta Street in Awkunanaw in Enugu South Local Government Area.

According to him, the incident threw the entire Awkunanaw area into confusion.

“It was gathered that the victim identified as Nkechi Nwakwe and a mother of three children, had allegedly on that fateful day taken a rat killer medicine with a view to taking her life.

“It was further gathered from sources that the woman is having some unresolved issues with her husband identified as Ugochukwu Nwakwe, and on that note decided to take rat killer in order to take her own life,’’ he said.

The spokesman said the woman was promptly rushed to Good Shepherd Hospital, Uwani, in Enugu and was now responding to treatment. - NAN

Minimum wage: NLC warns against excuses, says states should cut down spending

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned states and the organised private sector against coming up with excuses why they cannot implement the new national minimum wage currently being negotiated for Nigerian workers.

The congress said the minimum wage was implementable the government can cut down on its numerous expenses and extravagant spending which many state government have embarked upon.

President of the Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba who spoke at a public hearing on the new national minimum wage organised for the north central zone in Lokoja said implementation of whatever is arrived at by the committee is implementable if state governments across the country will cut down on their excesses and large number of political appointees they parade.

The warning became necessary as some state government within thr zone who were supposed to present their position to the committee stayed as well  the organized private sector led by the Nigeria Employers Consultatice Association stayed away from the public hearing.

The Nation noticed that the employers body was conspicuously missing both at the Abuja and Lokoja public hearings while Benue, Kwara and Niger states were also not represented at the event organised by the Tripartite Committee on the new national minimum wage to collect from Nigerians into the work of the committee. 

It was not immediately clear if the states and the employers body has submitted any written submission to the committee for consoderation.

However, while Kogi state government pledged to abuse by the outcome of the committee recommendations, Plateau state said there has to be a corresponding increase in both internally generated revenue and allocation from.the federation account for the state to be able to implement the new wages that will be recommended.

Wabba who is a member of the committee said utvwas unfortunate that some of those who are supposed to make their input into the work of the committee through the public hearing choose to stay away, adding that they should not turn round later to complain of not being carried along.

He said further that states and employers of labour jave always complain of the inability to pay new wages, adding that the problem of the country was not  lack of resources by the ability to manage available resources.

He stressed that government at all levels will reduce the large number of political appointees and the mismanagement of available resources, there will be enough resources to take adequate care of workers welfare, stressing that while States with huge allocations have been able to manage their resources and pay workers adequately, others have nor been able to do so, thereby owing workers salaries.

He said states like Jigawa which did nor access the bailout fund have been able to pay salaries of their workers as and when due and also made one of the highest proposal on the new minimum wage to the committee.

While pledging his state’s willingness to implement the new wages that will be arrived at, Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello wants to consider increasing distributable revenue in favoie of states and local government in other for them to have money to implement the new wage.

Represented by his Deputy, Elder Simon Achuba, the Kogi governor said “Government earnings still depend principally on the Federation Accounts allocation. That is why we will continue to require the special assistance of the Federal Government for greater impact. To this end, we wish to commend the efforts of the Federal Government in assisting states with funds to settle their financial obligations to workers. This has greatly given respite to the states. 

” However, in view of the enormous burden of the obligation occasioned by huge and accumulated debts, we wish to appeal to the Federal Government to consider granting such relief regular intervals to enable states meet their obligation to workers in particular.  

“We also urge the Federal Government to increase the distributable amount of the Federation Account to all tiers of government especially the States and Local Governments. We want to reiterate that Kogi State Government will always support the efforts of the Federal Government at alleviating and ameliorating the deplorable conditions of service of workers through enhanced salary packages. It is a statutory responsibility we intend to fulfil with zeal and commitment.”

In its presentation, the Plateau state government said it was proposinf three different salaries of N25,000; N30,000 and N57,000, stressing however that ability to pay any of the recommended wages will depend on commensurate revenue both from the federation account and infernally generated revenue.

According to the government, if there is no corresponding increase in revenue, the state may be compiled to down size the state work force, pointing out that despite the huge vacancies existinf in the state, the government has not been able to employ new workers because of the lack.of resources. - The Nation

Communities kick against move to replace operator of OML 30

There are ongoing protests at oil mining lease (OML) 30, Nigeria’s second largest onshore oil and gas asset, located 35km east of Warri, Delta state.

Central to the unrest is the move to replace Salvic Petroleum Resources Limited, operator of the facility.

In the last one year, SALVIC had been acting as third-party operator of OML30 on behalf of Heritage Energy Operational Services Ltd (HEOSL).

But the host communities are unhappy with the move to replace SALVIC with foreign operators.

OML 30, covering 1,095sqkm, comprising 11 fields, 9 flow stations, the Ughelli tank farm (UPS), the Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP), and with reserves estimated at about 1 billion barrels of oil, OML30 is a critical source of oil revenues for the federal government, Delta and 110 host communities.

The communities point to SALVIC’s commendable performance OML30, taking production from zero to 75,000 barrels per day (bpd), rehabilitating the Forcados Pipeline in record time and sustaining an uptime of over 86 percent in the 12 months of operations between March 2017 to April 2018.

The company was given steep production targets with a penalty of $25million if the targets were missed.

Considering the 15 months prior to March 2017 foregoing conditions of Zero production in OML30 and the TFP down throughout, it was a daunting challenge for any operator, let alone a young new company in a complex business arrangement.

“Undoubtedly, the SALVIC and OML30 success story is one of defying all the odds. By their achievements in OML30, the SALVIC Team has gained a name as Turn-Around experts in handling and extracting value from challenging and complex assets,” an industry expert said.

“SALVIC met and exceeded targets that were near impossible and demonstrated that excellence does not come from the age of a company but from the resilience of innovative, intelligent people who are empowered and focused on results.”

Some top officials of Salvic-OML30 project are Ikemefuna Okafor, CEO, Salvic; Ebenezer Ajayi, ED, Operations, Theophilus Ekiyor-Katimi, asset Manager; Gabriel Oramasionwu CEO, Abbeycourt; Celine Loader Director, corporate affairs (incl. Government & Community Relations); Fufeyin Funkakpo, manager, government and community relations; Uchechi Nwankwo –GM, HSSE; Okey Ekeocha, manager, security; Maxwell Okoh, MD, Eraskorp.  - Cable Nigeria

Ebonyi : 40-year-old man commits suicide

A 40-year-old man, Emmanuel Igwe, who is popularly known as Ezeugo from Amechi-Idodo community in Enugu State, yesterday committed suicide for unknown reasons.

Late Igwe before his death was a restaurant operator at Ishieke Campus of Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki.

His body was found hanging in one of the trees behind a Pentecostal Church, along Highlander Street in Ishieke community at the early hours of Thursday.

Meanwhile, a team of policemen from Ebonyi State police command came to the scene and brought down Igwe’s corpse from the tree where it was dangling.

It was gathered that the deceased left a wife and children behind.

His daughter, one Uzoamaka who spoke to journalists in tears, said her father left their house as usual to his restaurant but later called her mother on phone, instructing her to take care of them.

According to the girl, her father did not respond to her mother’s questions but was unexpectedly found hanging on the tree.

A resident of the area and close friend to the deceased family, Chimex Unah, who also spoke to newsmen, expressed sadness over the sudden death of the deceased whom he described as a jovial, gentle and hardworking man.

“I know Ezeugo very well, he is jovial. We have stayed together for sometime in Ishieke market.

“I came to the market today only to hear that he has committed suicide by hanging himself. He was still hanging on a tree when I got there. We were there until policemen came and brought down his corpse,” he stated. - Daily Post

Corps member dies during ‘Man-O-War’ exercise

A female National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member serving in Kwara State has lost her life. She died at the NYSC camp in  Yikpata, Edu local government area.

The deceased, Amadi Eva Ichechukwu with registration number KW/18A/0135, Batch A, from Rivers State, was said to have died due to injuries she sustained during a “Man-O-War” drilling exercise at the ongoing orientation camp.

The deceased who studied Oil and Gas at University of Port Harcourt, it was gathered, was said to have been full of life before her mobilisation for the one year mandatory service to father land.

Investigations revealed that the deceased was said to have fallen off the string in the course of Man-O-War drilling exercise at the orientation camp.

A source said after falling off the string, she was hurriedly rushed to the NYSC clinic at the camp for medical attention where she  was attended to by medical personnel who are also corps members.

However, it was also gathered that when the deceased condition worsened, NYSC management rushed her to General Hospital in Ilorin  for further medical attention where she reportedly died. - The Nation