11th May, 2015
The Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation founded by former presdent Olusegun Obasanjo is currently enmeshed in a money laundering scandal that is capable of discrediting it before the United Kingdom Charity Commission and the world.
The Foundation which was registered in the UK and given charity status on 24 September, 2012 by the Charity Commission of England and Wales has the vision of advancing human security in Africa.
A video obtained by SaharaReporters reveals a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Mrs. Anne Welsh, plotting to assist some Lebanese businessmen to launder millions of dollars.
The report suggests that Anne Welsh, whose real name is Anne Chiegozien Olie, from Oraifite town in Anambra State, “operated a well-oiled money-laundering scheme for many years,” using the Foundation as a cover.
The video, SaharaReporters reveals, was discreetly shot by one of the participants at a meeting in the United Kingdom in December 2014, and it shows Mrs. Welsh negotiating a $4.9 million money laundering deal with the Lebanese businessmen that would have seen her pocket about a million dollars.
Mrs. Welsh is seen in the video exploiting the Ebola Virus Disease tragedy in West Africa to help the Lebanese businessmen who wanted to launder $2.9m under the guise of donating money to fight the Ebola Virus Disease through the Obasanjo Foundation in Sierra Leone.
In the video, the Lebanese businessmen promise to donate $2m to the Obasanjo Foundation if the trustee would help launder the $2.9m.
When contacted on the allegation against Mrs. Welsh by Premium Times, Obasanjo confirmed the allegation, saying he and other trustees were deeply saddened and disturbed by it.
Obasanjo said that the Board asked her to resign immediately and she did so.
The former Nigerian president also confirmed that the Foundation has launched a full scale investigation into the allegations and reported the matter to the London Metropolitan Police and the UK Charity Commission for a thorough probe.
“We have asked the two authorities to investigate the matter exhaustively,” he said.
The former president further disclosed to the online medium that Mrs. Welsh had ceased to be chief executive officer of the Foundation in December 2014 when she reportedly met the Lebanese businessmen to strike the alleged money laundering deal.
“The CEO of the Foundation at that time was Franklin Lisk,” Obasanjo clarified.
He said he would travel to London to make more enquiry about the matter and that his Foundation would soon release a formal statement on the development.
“I can never associate myself with anything that has to do with money laundering and corruption,” he declared.
P.M.NEWS investigation shows that Mrs Anne Welsh was still very much in charge of the Foundation when she was taped by the Lebanese.