Spokesperson for the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo has claimed that the alleged drug money the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate forfeited in the United States was tax.
Keyamo made the claim following the controversy surrounding a document recently released by the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, after Tinubu’s alleged involvement in narcotics and money laundering about 30 years ago was investigated.
Appearing on a Channels Television program last night, Keyamo who insisted that Tinubu was an employee of Mobil Oil and not a treasurer of a drug cartel, also said that he (Tinubu) deposited some funds in bank accounts in the US as investments and got returns on those investments.
He claimed that 10 accounts were linked to Tinubu by United States authorities in the early 90s, and $460,000 were deducted from one of the accounts as tax on investments domiciled in US banks.
The Minister of state for Labour also said Tinubu took responsibility for all the 10 accounts because they were also traced to his mother and “relatives”. He added that the banks were supposed to deduct taxes from the investments but they did not and this was not a “deliberate act” on the part of Tinubu.
Keyamo said;
“He, Asiwaju, went to open an account, the address by which he opened the account was already used by these people…investigated for narcotics.
“The deposits he made there (in banks) are what bankers called investments; he kept the money there and he was getting interests. They (US government) said he had not paid tax on those interests. That is all and guess what? The banks are supposed to deduct the tax from source.
Anwsering question on the meaning of forfeiture, Keyamo said:
“The dictionary definition is different from legal definition. Dictionary definition don’t apply to legal terms.”