Commission launches manhunt for ex-minister, Etete over $1.1bn Malabu scam

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has begun a manhunt for Dan Etete, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources.

The EFCC disclosed that allegedly Etete who facilitated a $1.1bn fraud through his company, Malabu Oil & Gas Limited, has rendered himself incommunicado, making it difficult for the EFCC to serve him with court papers.

“We have been trying to contact Etete, but from all indications, he seems to be on the run. Now that he has been charged in an Italian court, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation will coordinate with the Italian government.

“We have transferred the Malabu fraud case to the AGF and he will decide on the next line of action. It is doubtful that he is in Nigeria, but we will continue to look for him.

“Since he is under investigation in the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States, he will not be able to hide. All the relevant security agencies will join hands in finding him, ” a senior detective at the EFCC said.

It was also learnt that the UK authorities froze $85m in Etete’s bank account while $170m was frozen in its Switzerland account.

The Malabu scam, described as one of the most fraudulent oil deals in the world, involved the payment of $1.1bn by oil giants, Shell and Eni, to the Federal Government accounts in 2011 for OPL 245, said to hold reserves of about 9.23 billion barrels of oil.

Written by Victor Agboga