Is David Edevbie-Wanted by UK police?

David Edevbie-Wanted by UK police

A media war have broken out in Nigeria between Thisday Newspapers and Saharareporters over whether the Principal Private Secretary to Umaru Yar’Adua, Mr. David Edevbie, is wanted in England by the London Metropolitan Police to be tried for money-laundering. But one thing readers should know is that until the Crime Prosecution Service brings a matter to Court, the London Metropolitan Police is often reluctant to speak on, confirm or give details of a matter that is still under investigation. Nigerians should thus be wary be wary of these “scoops”.

From my own experience with the UK Police, They sometimes treat these matters as a Freedom of Information Request. And in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act), they may refuse the request under Section 17(4).

Section 17(4) of the Act provides: (4) A public authority is not obliged to make a statement under subsection (1)(c) or (3) if, or to the extent that, the statement would involve the disclosure of information which would itself be exempt information.

The Metropolitan Police Service will then neither confirm nor deny that it holds the information you requested as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of information Act 2000 does not apply by virtue of the following exemption:

Section 40(5) – Personal Information / Absolute Exemption
To confirm or deny whether personal information exists under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, would publicly reveal information about an individual(s), breaching the right to privacy afforded to persons under the Data Protection Act 1998.

However, this notice does not confirm or deny that the Metropolitan Police Service holds the information that you have requested.

It would be recalled that last week, Saharareporters broke the story that Mr. Edevbie, along with Henry Imasheka, had been declared wanted for their role in the conspiracy by former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori and the former Governor of Akwa Ibom, Victor Attah, to defraud their states of about $37 million from the sale of V-Mobile shares.

That story was contradicted by ThisDay newspaper. In a report last Sunday, Thisday quoted a spokesperson of the Met Police as saying to Thisday on phone that Edevbie’s name was not on the wanted list.

However, yesterday, 16/09/2009, Saharareporters again went to town with another story, insisting that Mr. David Edevbie, is indeed wanted in England by the London Metropolitan Police to be tried for money-laundering. Saharareporters charged that in addition to not naming its source, ThisDay carefully did not acknowledge the existence of a legal matter nor ask about any charges.

Saying the story “was clearly designed to launder Mr. Edevbie’s image”, Saharareporteres claimed that Ms. Ruth Shulver, Senior Press Officer, Specialist Crime Press Desk, on behalf of the Metropolitan police observed that for strategic reasons, they could not have confirmed (to ThisDay) whether Edevbie is or is not wanted for an arrest. “You can quote me saying that,” she was quoted to have said.

Saharareporters thus stood by its original and follow-up stories, and the full charges against all of the players involved.

On 10 September, the day after they broke the story, three of the conspirators, Ibori UK lawyer Bhadresh Gohil, Mr. Daniel Benedict McCann and Mr. Lambertus De Boer, appeared in court and their trial continues in Southwark Crown Court, London.

However, Thisday today insists that Principal Private Secretary to the President, Mr. David Edevbie, is not on trial in London, saying that the British Metropolitan Police insisted in an email exchange with them that edebvie is NOT wanted by them.

One thing readers should know is that until the Crime Prosecution Police charges a matter to Court, the London Metropolitan Police is often reluctant to speak on, confirm or give details of a matter that is still under investigation.

Nigerians should thus be wary be wary of these “scoops”.

What is clear in this case therefore is that David Edevbie has not been charged in relation to the Metropolitan Police investigation into this fraud but his name is on the charge list and until he is charged, The Metropolitan Police would not discuss details of people involved in their investigation.

Thisday had last Sunday quoted a Met Police spokesman who said – contrary to speculations – that Edevbie had not been declared wanted in connection with the ongoing trial of three persons on the Vmobile shares sale saga.

However, with the rumours still persisting that Edevbie had been declared wanted and charged to court, THISDAY said they again sent an email to the Met Police on Tuesday night. The email read: “I’m a Nigerian journalist [with] THISDAY Newspaper…. There are conflicting claims on a government official named David Edevbie. The Met Police are prosecuting a case involving him and former governor James Ibori at the Southwark Court. I would like to know: (1) If Edevbie is on trial; (2) If he has been informed about this; (3) If he is not an accused in this matter, is he a prosecution witness or a person of interest? Kindly treat as soon as possible. Thanks.”
According to Thisday, early yesterday morning, Mr. Simon Fisher, of the Press Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Service, replied: “David Edevbie has not been charged in relation to the Metropolitan Police investigation into this fraud.”
He however confirmed THISDAY’s report last Monday that Edevbie’s name is on the charge list.
He wrote: “However, David Edevbie is named on the indictments on the charges listed below. The Metropolitan Police would not discuss details of people we speak to, or wish to speak to, as part of our investigation.”
Thisday said it is yet unclear if Edevbie, who served as ex-Delta Governor James Ibori’s Commissioner for Finance from 1999 to 2004, will be engaged by the Met Police as a prosecution witness as he had left the position before the deals in question were sealed.

Others involved in this story include the former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, and Love Ojiakovo.

Meanwhile, the full details of indictment on the charges made on 9 September 2009 against Bhadresh Babulal GOHIL, Lambertus de BOER and Daniel Benedict McCANN, are as follows:
1. Conspiracy to defraud
That Bhadresh Babulal Gohil , Lambertus de Boer and Daniel Benedict McCann between the 1st day of September 2005 and the 1st day of January 2007 conspired together and with James Onanefe Ibori, Victor Attah, David Edevbie, Love Ojakovo, and others to defraud states within the Federation of Nigeria, namely Delta State and Akwa Ibom State, of sums representing part of the sale price resulting from the sale of shares owned by the said states in Vee Networks (Nigeria) Limited (trading as V Mobile) to Celtel (Nigeria) BV, and held in the names of their respective authorised ministries or agencies the said sums being paid to a company named African Development Finance Limited or its predecessors under an Exclusive Arranger Agreement to a total invoiced value in excess of $37,000,000 United States dollars, contrary to common law.
2. Conspiracy to make false instruments:
That Bhadresh Babulal Gohil, Lambertus de Boer and Daniel Benedict McCann between the 1st day of September 2005 and the 1st day of July 2006 conspired together and with James Onanfe Ibori, David Edevbie, Love Ojakovo and others to make false instruments, namely letters and other documents which purported to be made on dates or otherwise in circumstances in which they were not made, in relation to alleged services provided by African Development Finance Limited or its predecessors in relation to the sale of shares by Delta State in Vee Networks (Nigeria) Limited (trading as V Mobile), with the intention that they or another should use the said letters and documents to induce somebody to accept them as genuine and by reason of so accepting to do, or not to do, some act to his own prejudice or that of any other person, contrary to section 1(1A) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
3. Money laundering:
That Bhadresh Babulal Gohil, Lambertus de Boer and Daniel Benedict McCann together with others between the 15th day of April 2006 and the 9th day of September 2009 entered into or became concerned in an arrangement which they knew or suspected facilitated (by whatever means) the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property by or on behalf of another person or persons, namely the use of the company African Development Finance Limited or its predecessors as a front to receive and launder on behalf of another person sums paid to it under the terms of an Exclusive Arranger Agreement, up to an invoiced total in excess of $37,000,000 United States dollars, in relation to the sale of shares owned by Delta State and Akwa Ibom State in Vee Networks (Nigeria) Limited to Celtel (Nigeria) BV on or after the 15th April 2006, Contrary to section 328 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
4. Money laundering:
That Bhadresh Babulal Gohil, Lambertus de Boer and Daniel Benedict McCann between the 15th April 2006 and the 9th September 2009 together with others entered into or became concerned in an arrangement which they knew or suspected facilitated (by whatever means) the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property by or on behalf of another person, namely the sale of the assets of the company African Development Finance Limited or its predecessors to another company vehicle, on terms which would represent a gross undervaluation of those assets to a legitimate company, contrary to section 328 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
5. Money laundering:
That Bhadresh Babulal Gohil, Lambertus de Boer, and Daniel Benedict McCann on or about the 21st December 2006 together with James Onanefe Ibori, Victor Attah, Henry Imasekha and others concealed, disguised, converted and transferred criminal property, namely the sum of $10,000,000 United States dollars being a purported loan from African Development Finance Limited to a company named Ascot Offshore (Nigeria) Limited, they knowing or suspecting that that sum constituted the benefit from criminal conduct of another person, or that it represented such benefit in whole or in part and whether directly or indirectly, contrary to section 327 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Ibori has denied any wrongdoing. But in a statement issued on Monday by his Media Aide, Tony Eluemunor, Ibori said: “Mr. M.S. Hassan (Head of Legal, Lagos) wrote a legal opinion on that same case, CR NO 10357 07 and concluded in a document dated November 26, 2008 viz; ‘I humbly recommend that based on my answers to the issue for determination, the ADFI money temporarily frozen from account can be released to them and also the charges that were filed at the High Court which was purely to prevent the account from being de-frozen by the court should be abated…’ [Nuhu] Ribadu accepted this legal opinion and acted as advised.”
However, there appears to be some confusion about the date as Ribadu had ceased to be EFCC chairman by January 2008.
Ibori further said: “Apart from Ribadu’s EFCC finding no reason whatsoever to continue with the case against the accused, in Ribadu’s charge-and-detain-before-investigation style, the matter was already in court and the ADFI’s account had been frozen before investigation ever began – as the Mr. Hassan’s legal opinion quoted above testifies.
“Also, I want to state categorically that no one has actually been declared wanted by the London Metropolitan Police, just as there are no outstanding arrest warrants for anyone over this controversy. So a lot of claims have been hyped and sensationalised by Ribadu, who last weekend, in several newspapers, denied his role in trying to undermine Nigeria through false accusations against three former governors, especially James Onanefe Ibori, for nefarious reasons.
“For instance, Ribadu stated in several newspapers: ‘I have nothing to do with the V-Mobile case or the case that is going on in the United Kingdom. There is a case involving Ibori and his associates…’ Well, if Ribadu has started denying his involvement in the case, it is because he fully knows that there is no merit in the allegations as the Hassan’s legal opinion of 2008, which Ribadu himself accepted and acted upon, proves. It is on record that ADFI did no other business in Nigeria apart from sale of the Akwa Ibom and Delta State shares before EFCC hounded it out, despite its keenness to re-invest in the country.”