Neda Bernards Imasuen, the senator representing Edo South since 2023, allegedly orchestrated a multimillion-dollar bank fraud scheme in the United States before relocating to Nigeria, where he secured a powerful position in the country’s legislature, court documents reviewed by Peoples Gazette reveal.
Imasuen, now chairman of the Nigerian Senate’s Ethics Committee, played a key role in the controversial suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from Kogi State. The six-month suspension, which legal experts such as Abdul Mahmud, Chidi Odinkalu, and Femi Falana have criticized as unconstitutional, stemmed from her allegations of sexual exploitation against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, claims both Akpabio and Imasuen have denied.
However, before rising to political prominence in Nigeria, Imasuen had a troubled legal career in New York, marked by professional misconduct and financial fraud, according to official U.S. records.
Disbarred and Implicated in Massive Bank Fraud
A Peoples Gazette investigation previously revealed that Imasuen was permanently disbarred in New York for mishandling a client’s funds and defying disciplinary subpoenas. Now, fresh documents show he was also implicated in a $25 million fraud case involving multiple U.S. banks.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified Imasuen as the attorney who facilitated fraudulent transactions at the heart of an elaborate mortgage scam, which targeted at least 33 financial institutions, including Citi Bank, HSBC, Wells Fargo, and Lehman Brothers.
A federal grand jury indictment filed on December 14, 2012, accused Imasuen and his associate, Imran Ismile Badoolah, of using straw buyers with high credit scores to secure fraudulent loans. Judge Kiyo Matsumoto of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York described Imasuen as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the scheme, which ran between 2008 and 2009.
While Badoolah was convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2017, along with a five-year probation and a restitution order, Imasuen seemingly evaded prosecution.
Fled the U.S., Rose to Political Prominence in Nigeria
Records suggest that Imasuen returned to Nigeria in 2010, around the same time U.S. authorities intensified their investigation into the fraud case and he became unreachable for his disciplinary hearings. Despite his disbarment in New York, he continued practicing law in Nigeria, working as a consultant for state governments on international development projects.
Imasuen, who was admitted to the New York Bar in 1992, leveraged his political influence during Nigeria’s 2023 elections, securing a Senate seat under the Labour Party amid a wave of public support for opposition leader Peter Obi.
Unanswered Questions and Silence from Imasuen
Despite repeated requests for clarification, Imasuen has yet to respond to Peoples Gazette’s inquiries about his past legal troubles. A spokesperson for Nigeria’s Supreme Court, responsible for certifying lawyers in the country, also declined to comment on how he continued practicing law despite his disbarment in the U.S.
Imasuen’s case adds to a growing list of Nigerian politicians with controversial pasts holding top government positions. In 2023, reports revealed that President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, was disbarred in Georgia for financial misconduct before returning to Nigeria to pursue a political career.
As scrutiny intensifies over Imasuen’s past, questions remain about how individuals with records of professional misconduct and financial crimes continue to wield significant power in Nigeria’s political landscape.
