The Department of State Security Services (DSS) has disclosed its reasons why it arrested a Labour Party chieftain, Doyin Okupe, on his way to London on Thursday.
The DSS noted that the arrest was at the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
TalkGlitz had reported that Okupe was found guilty and sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for breaching the Money Laundering Act.
According to the EFCC that engineered the arrest, Okupe was charged to court for receiving N702 million in illegal payment from public funds meant to procure arms to fight insurgency in 2019. He was convicted of the offence by the Federal High Court.
One of the charges read, “That you, Dr Doyin Okupe, being the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan from July 2012 to May 2015 and being the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, and a signatory to the bank account of Abrahams Telecoms Limited, on or October 3, 2014, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, directly took possession or control of the sum of N35million, transferred to the account of Abrahams Telecoms Ltd from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria, purporting to be for special services when you reasonably ought to have known that the said fund formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity.”
Justice Ojukwu, in a judgment, held that Okupe was found guilty of contravening Sections 16(1)&(2) of the Money Laundering Act, for accepting cash payments without going through a financial institution, in excess of the threshold allowed under the Act.
Okupe was therefore sentenced to two years imprisonment by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu with an option of an N500,000 fine on each of the 26 count charges for which he was found guilty.
Delivering her judgment, Justice Ojukwu held that Okupe, who is the first defendant in the suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission violated the Money Laundering Act.
She said he had a fine option totalling N13m on all the charges he was found guilty of or sent to the Kuje Correctional Centre.
Okupe, however, avoided jail by paying the fine.
Reacting to his rearrest on Thursday at the Lagos Airport, the Public Relations Officer for DSS, Dr Peter Afunanya, said the former LP campaign DG was arrested after his attempt to leave the country for London.
“Doyin Okupe was intercepted by DSS at Terminal 1 of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos this morning at the instance of the EFCC,” Afunanya said in a text message sent to The PUNCH enquiring about his (Okupe) arrest.
“He has long been handed over to the commission which requested the action. Okupe was billed to fly to London via Virgin Atlantic.
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