Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it was investigating the involvement of Nigerian officials in alleged bribes paid by luxury car and truck maker Daimler AG and a local vehicle assembly company ANAMMCO. Daimler in April paid $185 million to settle allegations it had violated U.S. anti-bribery laws by showering foreign government officials with money and gifts to win contracts. EFCC Chairman, Mrs Farida Waziri said the agency had begun to probe $15 million of alleged bribes involving Daimler and Anammco, a Nigerian company that assembles Mercedes trucks and buses. "We opened investigations into the Daimler/Anammco scam recently following a judgment in the U.S. where some Nigerians were convicted in relation to the Daimler bribery scam," Waziri said in a statement. "So far, we have interviewed about four officials and representatives of Daimler and Anammco in Nigeria," she said, adding Nigeria's attorney general had been asked to obtain a full copy of the U.S. judgment from the U.S. authorities. Anammco was set up in the 1970s as a joint venture between Daimler, the Nigerian government and local investors. Daimler sold its stake in 2007 in line with its policy not to invest in companies that are partly government-owned, according to the Anammco website. Waziri said the Daimler probe showed Nigeria -- regularly ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world -- was serious about cracking cases "with international dimensions." The EFCC has also been investigating the involvement of prominent Nigerians in a corruption case involving Germany's Siemens (SIEGn.DE), one of Germany's biggest corporate scandals. EFCC also denied any Presidential influence in the soft treatment of the former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nasiru el-Rufai by the commission. "No Jonathan did not influence us, we are not treating him with kid gloves. I followed due process because I’m bothered that he returned to the country and reported to the commission on his own” she explained. The EFCC boss, who took time to review activities of the commission in the past two years, noted that the task of prosecuting the anti-graft war has not been easy. According to her, the delay in the prosecution of cases involving politically exposed persons, especially former state governors, have been frustrating the agency adding that she had already reached out to the judiciary to expedite action on such cases. She noted the most of the cases have been stalled at the appeals level. Noting that the law is slow in prosecuting such politically exposed persons, Waziri noted that ‘our lawyers are exploiting the law to frustrate us.” Waziri also gave kudos to her agency for taking the anti-corruption war to a higher level despite daunting logistical challenges. According to her, “we can conveniently boast that while we inherited about ten high profile cases when we took over about two years ago, today we have not only instituted over 50 high profile cases, we have equally secured over 100 convictions with a record of recovery that towers above $3.5 billion and over 1200 cases pending in court.” This, she noted, is irrespective of efforts the commission is making to unravel the mystery surrounding such issues like the Halliburton and Siemens bribery scandals. On the Halliburton scandal, Mrs. Waziri said the commission is still on the trail of the police which initiated investigations during the Mike Okiro administration adding that the incumbent Inspector General of police, Ogbonna Onovo and his team are still investigating the matter. She however promised that the commission will swoop into action once report of the police investigation gets to it. On the Siemens bribery scandal for which some foreign accomplices have been jailed in the USA, the EFCC chairperson noted that investigations into the matter will be rounded off next week adding that the management of the company will be invited to state its own side of the story “as our law says both the bribe giver and the taker are equally guilty.” Mrs. Waziri also renewed her call for an asset forfeiture law noting that such will assist the anti-corruption war as assets which cannot be defended by legitimate earnings would be forfeited to the state. According to her, such law works to stem the tide of public looting and stealing as persons who live above their stated means could be invited to defend such. She noted that with the absence of an asset forfeiture law, Nigerians are made to believe that stealing public funds and crime pays as “they see those who had stolen public funds living in affluence and moving about freely while the poor ones get poorer.” The EFCC chairperson also called on Nigerians to assist the commission with information noting that a recent whistle-blowing helped the commission stop an action which would have fleeced a state government of about N5 billion. “We had an incident where someone, a whistleblower, gave us a tip about a governor who had awarded a N10 billion contract and paid a cheques of N5 billion to the company, a foreign company, even when he knew he was about going. We were informed about it and we were able to stop the cheques. That N5 billion would have been transferred into an account in Cayman Islands or any other place if we were not informed,” she noted. Waziri also revealed that the commission is rounding up investigations into the 17.5million euro Siemens bribery scam saying that it has begun to probe another $15million transcontinental fraud case involving Daimler and Anammco automobile firms. According to her, “We opened investigations into the Daimler/ Anammco scam recently following a judgment in the U.S. where some Nigerians were convicted in relation to the Daimler bribery scam. So far, we have interviewed about four officials and representatives of Daimler and Anammco in Nigeria . “We have equally gone ahead to seek the assistance of the AGF to obtain the certified true copy of the US judgment through MLAT from the America authorities. We are working hard to see how we can crack some of these high profile cases with international dimensions”. Source: Thisdayonline.com