Part of the documents submitted by Greenspan to the court to back his FOIA case were a verified complaint and accompanying affidavit, filed in the Northern District of Illinois by the DOJ on 26 July 1993.
The documents sought the civil forfeiture of Tinubu’s funds held by First Heritage Bank, allegedly connected to the drug trafficking investigation.
The affidavit by the Department of the Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Special Agent Kevin Moss, who was involved in the investigation, detailed the drug trafficking activities of Agbele, which provided the ground for seeking the forfeiture of Tinubu’s funds.
It also shared insights into how Agbele was arrested while selling white heroin to a person not known to him to be an undercover agent.
It stated that upon arrival in the United States, “Agbele identified Akande (who has also been linked to Mr Tinubu) as his uncle and stated that Akande provided him (Agbele) an apartment in Hammond, Indiana,” citing “investigating agents of DEA” as the source of this information.
Furthermore, he said according to DEA investigators, Agbele sold white heroin to another individual on numerous occasions.
With the assistance of “Source A”, DEA called Agbele to purchase a small amount of white heroin,” which resulted in a transaction where “Agbele sold one ounce of white heroin to a law enforcement officer working in an undercover capacity.”
Subsequent to this sale, “Agbele was arrested and agreed to cooperate” with the investigation.
The affidavit also states that further investigation by DEA disclosed a lease application completed by Agbele.
Moss’s affidavit confirmed that both the FBI and DEA investigated Tinubu in the wider probe into the drug trafficking activities of Agbele and other members of his ring.
It confirmed that “there is probable cause to believe that funds in certain bank accounts controlled by Bola Tinubu were involved in financial transactions” in violation of US laws “and represent proceeds of drug trafficking.”
It stated that seeking to target Tinubu’s funds arose from “investigation of money laundering of the proceeds of a heroin distribution organisation in the Chicago area.” The clues relied on were said to include “information provided by Special Agents of the IRS, DEA, (and) FBI.”
Although Tinubu forfeited the suspect funds, he has consistently denied wrongdoings. He has also never been criminally indicted or charged in the case.