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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed fresh money laundering charges against Bello Bodejo, the national president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, over an alleged $2.53 million cash transaction traced to the Bauchi State Government.
The anti-graft agency, in a 12-count charge filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, accused Bodejo of unlawfully receiving and possessing large sums of foreign currency suspected to be proceeds of illicit activities, in violation of Nigeria’s money laundering laws.
According to the Commission, the charges, filed on Monday, stem from a series of suspicious cash payments allegedly made to Bodejo by former Bauchi State Accountant-General, Sa’idu Abubakar, who is currently in police custody.
The development marks a new twist in the widening financial scandal already drawing in senior officials of the Bauchi State Government, including Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, who is currently facing terrorism financing and money laundering charges alongside other state officials.
EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, disclosed on Wednesday that Bodejo would soon be arraigned to take his plea as formal prosecution begins.
At the centre of the case are cash transactions allegedly made outside the banking system, a move the Commission says contravenes statutory financial regulations.
One of the charges alleges that on January 11, 2022, Bodejo accepted $100,000 in physical cash from Abubakar without routing the funds through any financial institution, an act the EFCC says breached the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
Another count claims he received an additional $200,000 barely ten days later under similar circumstances.
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The Commission further alleged that in February and March 2024, Bodejo took possession of $980,000 and $500,000 respectively, raising the cumulative figure to $2.53 million.
Prosecutors insist the transactions exceeded the legal cash threshold and were conducted under circumstances suggesting the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities.
The fresh charges appear closely tied to an ongoing high-profile trial involving Bauchi’s finance commissioner and three senior civil servants accused of releasing over $2.33 million to Bodejo and other individuals under what investigators described as questionable “security commitments.”
Court documents earlier revealed that between 2023 and 2024, multiple cash disbursements were approved and paid out by the state government, with internal memos later seeking retroactive regularisation of the transactions.
The EFCC has also linked part of the funds to alleged terrorism financing, a claim that adds another layer of gravity to the case.
Bodejo’s legal troubles are not new. In 2024, he spent several months in detention and briefly faced terrorism-related charges before the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation withdrew the case without public explanation.
The latest prosecution now reopens scrutiny into his financial dealings and could deepen the legal exposure of top Bauchi government officials already standing trial.
Legal observers say the case may test the boundaries between security spending, political patronage, and financial accountability, especially as anti-corruption agencies intensify investigations into public fund disbursements under opaque security arrangements.
If convicted under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, Bodejo could face up to 14 years imprisonment, fines amounting to five times the value of the alleged proceeds, or both.
The matter is expected to come up in the coming days before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
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