Bala Mohammed was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan, while he presided over the country in acting capacity – Part of the many ‘sins’ he allegedly committed included cornering 12 choice plots worth billions of naira and 37 other commercial plots to a suspected front – Some top officials of the Federal Capital Territory are also under investigation for their alleged roles in the reported fraudulent activities that went on at the ministry A former Federal Capital Territory minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, and his son, Shamsudeen Bala, have reportedly lost four houses worth N872 million to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Bala Mohammed with children Bala, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan, is also under investigation for alleged fake contracts worth about N1 billion, according to a report by The Nation. The EFCC is further investigating him for allegedly allocating 12 choice plots worth billions of naira and 37 other commercial plots of land worth about N8 billion to one Tariq Hammoud, his suspected front. He is again under investigation for a controversial N1 trillion Abuja land swap. The report said over 16 companies linked with fictitious contracts awarded by the former minister had been under surveillance and their owners investigated by EFCC. The report said the EFCC questioned top directors of the Federal Capital Territory administration, including that of treasury, Ibrahim Bomoi; land, Babayo Mainasara, and Abuja Geographical Information Service (AGIS), Ms Jamila Tangaza, wo is linked to N800 million questionable contracts and who has been battling for bail in the last one week in detention. The minister and the other officials are being probed over petitions received by the anti-graft agency since 2013. The report also quoted a top source as saying: “We are probing the immediate past minister of FCT on many allegations against him, including award of N1 billion fictitious contracts; abuse of office by allocating 12 choice plots to his son and 37 other commercial plots worth about N8 billion to Hammoud, who is suspected to be his front; land swap, among others. READ ALSO: Fani-Kayode’s aide accuses EFCC of vendetta, rights violation “Some of the petitions against Bala Mohammed had been pending since 2013. Initial findings showed that the ex-minister used fictitious companies to award contracts worth N1 billion in FCT. In one instance, a man with three companies was allowed to bid for one slot. “About 16 companies used for fictitious contracts are under investigation because they did not supply items credited to them. “We have also uncovered how Bala allocated plots of land to his friends, business partners. For examples, he allocated 12 plots of land to his son, Shamsudeen, and 37 commercial plots of land to his business front called Tariq Hammoud. “Some of those quizzed so far confessed that Bala used unconventional methods in raking illicit funds and laundering same. Each time the ex-minister allocated a plot of land, he would find out the market value and ask you to pay half of the amount to him in cash. “For instance if a plot of land was N2 billion, Bala would ask for N1 billion cash from the prospective buyer. He was smart in collecting cash. “But the EFCC has traced allocation of 37 commercial plots to Hammoud and how N8billion was made from it. In fact, we saw a proposal by Tariq Hammoud to sell some of the plots. “So far, our operatives have arrested, detained and quizzed Shamsudeen. He is presently on administrative bail. We have also interrogated Hammoud.” The source further said: “Based on substantial findings, we approached the court to obtain an interim forfeiture order to seize a N650million from the ex-FCT minister. READ ALSO: “Ayo is my son, he can’t be prosecuted” – Bode George “What happened was that the former minister allocated some plots of land to Aso Savings and they bought the N650 million house for him at Nos. 1 and 3, Mariam Mukhtar Street, Asokoro District. One of Bala Mohammed’s children in one of his private cars “The EFCC has confiscated three duplexes totalling N222million which were acquired by the ex-minister’s son. “We invoked sections 28 and 34 of the EFCC (Establishment Act) 2004 and Section 13(1) of the Federal High Court Act, 2004 which empower the anti-graft agency to invoke interim assets forfeiture clause. “Section 28 of the EFCC Act reads: ‘Where a person is arrested for an offence under this Act, the Commission shall immediately trace and attach all the assets and properties of the person acquired as a result of such economic or financial crime and shall thereafter cause to be obtained an interim attachment order from the Court’. “We are investigating him, we are yet to invite him for questioning. Certainly, we are closing in on him. “As for Ms Jamila Tangaza, we arrested and detained her because she was connected with the land scam and abuse of office. READ ALSO: Jibrin arrives EFCC HQ “The ex-minister asked her to resign her appointment with BBC and appointed her as a senior special assistant on media and information. But Bala allocated some plots of land to her to sell in order to acquire a mansion in Asokoro District too. Her house was allegedly worth N158million. “Also, Jamila allegedly abused her office by awarding N800 million contracts to her company which is called Songbird Multimedia. “Her case was interesting. When she registered the company with the Corporate Affairs Commission, she used a fictitious name as the CEO of the company but she is the sole signatory to the company’s account and her phone number is the point of contact with the firm. “We have sent her signature on CAC document and other specimen signatures collected from her to a forensic laboratory. Following a court order, we detained her in the past few days but as at Friday, she was pleading that we should grant her bail. We are looking into her request. “You can verify from her what transpired. From custody in EFCC, we went with her to her office to recover some documents. We used the EFCC bus but along the way, she begged us to park the bus away from the vicinity of AGIS where she is a director. “She did not want her staff and others to notice that she was brought to the office by EFCC team. “We obliged her request by parking outside AGIS. We also didn’t allow policemen in uniform to follow her to the office. “We assigned plain-clothe operatives and even asked her if she wanted the only lady in our team to follow her so that Jamila can blend with the crowd in AGIS without anyone suspecting anything. READ ALSO: Why I stand with Buratai – Calito Felipe “She said all plain clothe operatives can follow her. We did not put her in handcuffs. This is the extent we went based on her request to protect her reputation and integrity. The story of Jamila being handcuffed was rubbish.” Recall that many of Jonathan’s former cabinet members as well as close aides have either been arrested or being investigated for various offences of fraud against the country. One of such celebrated case is the $2.1 billion allegedly traced to Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser to the former president. Bala Mohammed was appointed minister of FCT on April 8, 2010, when Goodluck Jonathan, acting while Umaru Yar’Adua was ill, announced his new cabinet.