LAGOS FEBRUARY 5TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Chizoba Vivian Nengite, the wife of Brig.-Gen. Charles Nengite, yesterday refuted allegations that some lodgements, ranging from $11 million to $15 million, were found in her bank account in the United States (U.S.A).
Mrs Nengite said claims that she was under investigation for money laundering by law enforcement agencies in America were false.
She threatened to seek legal redress against the sponsors or publishers of the “false information”.
There were reports, last December, that the Nigerian Army detained Brig.-Gen. Nengite following the discovery of $16 million in a bank account belonging to his wife’s U.S bank account.
He was said to have been held by the Army’s Special Investigations Bureau (SIB), a department that handles matters on fraud and money laundering.
But Mrs Nengite, in a statement through her lawyer, Taofik Adeleke, described publications linking her to any such money as “false and malicious”.
Adeleke said: “…A false allegation by unknown sources was made against our client insinuating that our client was involved in money laundering activities.
“The said publications specifically stated that sums, ranging from between $11 million to $15 million, were found in our client’s private account in the United States of America and that our client is under investigation by the authorities in the United States of America.”
The lawyer said the “false publication” caused Mrs Nengite and her family “a lot of undue embarrassment, thus necessitating the need to refute the wrong information now in the public domain”.
He added: “We wish to state unequivocally on behalf of our client that the information is not true.
“At no time was such an amount of money or any huge sums of money found in our client’s account to warrant the false and malicious publication.”
According to Adeleke, the woman had “never at any time been invited, interrogated or questioned by the authorities in America, as falsely claimed in the said publications”.
He also said: “The false information in the public domain is only an imagination in the mind of mischief makers.
“Our client is a law-abiding citizen, and it is disheartening that the image of our client is being tarnished by mischief makers whose jaundiced publications and statements have had a negative impact on our client’s emotional wellbeing and family reputation.”
