A student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University has been nabbed in a suspected case of money laundering by NDLEA operatives as he attempted to smuggle multiple ATM cards of several commercial banks in Nigeria into China.
A 34-year old man suspected to be working for an international criminal organization has been arrested with 108 Automated Teller Machine debit cards.
The young man named Pascal Udeh was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while he was attempting to board a Qatar Airline flight to China. The debit cards belong to five commercial banks, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said in a statement on Saturday.
Ahmadu Garba, the NDLEA Commander at the Lagos airport, said the suspect was arrested in connection with suspected money laundering and was immediately transferred to the a$$ets and Financial Investigation Directorate of the Agency for investigation.
According to the agency, First City Monument Bank had the highest number of cards with 58; Stanbic IBTC Bank had 23 cards; Zenith Bank, 19; Fidelity Bank, 6; and Diamond Bank, 2.
Victoria Egbase, the Director of a$$ets and Financial Investigation, said the Agency had established a prima facie case of financial crime against the suspect and that the Chairman had ordered the transfer of the case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for further investigation.
The NDLEA quoted the suspect as saying that he was asked to take the cards to China.
The suspect hails from Obibi in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, the NDLEA said. The use of debit cards raises the suspicion of a case of money laundering which the EFCC is expected to unravel as a result of their expertise in financial investigations.
