TV property expert held in Nigeria after MoS probe

AN ESTATE agent who was last month named in a Mail on Sunday investigation for his alleged links to suspected money laundering by a Nigerian politician known as ‘The Madam’ has been arrested.

Adeyemi Edun, a London property expert who has appeared on the BBC’s Homes Under The Hammer, is understood to have been detained as he arrived in Nigeria on Wednesday.

Four well-placed sources confirmed independently that Mr Edun – who has dual British-Nigerian nationality – was arrested by officers from Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is leading the country’s drive against corruption.

Mr Edun, who is the owner of the Daniel Ford estate agency near King’s Cross, London, could not be contacted for comment. Colleagues at his London office declined to answer questions. It is understood he remained in custody on Friday, and had not been charged.

‘I can confirm the arrest but I am not able to give details at this stage,’ said Wilson Uwujaren, an EFCC spokesman.

Last month, The Mail on Sunday and investigative group Finance Uncovered revealed that Mr Edun had been named in US court documents as having links to an alleged money laundering scandal swirling around former Nigerian oil minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, known as The Madam.

The court papers said he had ‘assisted’ various Nigerian businessmen with the purchase of £8.3 million of prime London real estate intended ‘for the use and benefit’ of Alison-Madueke in March 2011. He previously told The Mail on Sunday that ‘everything [we do] is done within the ambit of regulation’.

Alison-Madueke has previously denied all allegations of wrongdoing.