Yorkshire Almanac Abigail Marshall Katung, Labour councillor and future Lord Mayor of Leeds, explains to the National Crime Agency how in 2015 she obtained a £360,000 house deposit from Nigeria

11 March 2020: Abigail Marshall Katung, Labour councillor and future Lord Mayor of Leeds, explains to the National Crime Agency how in 2015 she obtained a £360,000 house deposit from Nigeria

England and Wales High Court (King’s Bench). 2025/06/06. NCA v. Katung (EWHC 1401) Licensed under Crown Copyright. Get it:

Excerpt

Katung: We’d just had a new [All Progressives Congress] takeover of government in Nigeria. So the central government were not transferring funds from Nigeria directly from the central bank to any foreign country. So, if you needed to exchange, you had to go through the black market. Obviously, I had already moved house and I had only moved with £40,000. I meant to move in with £400,000. So, my [Peoples Democratic Party] husband said, “Well we’ve got the money now, so we have to look for ways in which to transfer the money from Nigeria to England.” So I was calling any Nigerian who needed money to send to their home country, I was … I just, you know, word of mouth to people, “I will give you the naira, you give me pounds,” and I paid everything, I said, “send it through to my business consultancy account.” […] Andrew Coles (NCA): So, basically, your husband has sold the naira to the …? Katung: That’s correct … Coles: And ultimately, your bank account has been given to all these random people. Katung: That’s correct … that’s what happened. Coles: But you can see the danger here, can’t you? Katung: I, I do, yeah, I do. Cos normally, we’ve gone through, like I said to you, er, we had to go through the, erm … the private, instead of going through the central bank. [NCA granted a possession order, Katung’s deposit, and costs.]

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

The incoming government in 2015 under Muhammadu Buhari campaigned on an anti‑corruption platform, and after the election authorities such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission began to investigate and indict high‑level officials from the previous ruling party. However, there is no evidence, and it would be outrageous to suggest, that the house purchase apparently agreed on 1 April 2015 was in any way related to Goodluck Jonathan’s concession of the election on 31 March 2015 – studies of capital flight in Nigeria (and more broadly) show that the major determinants are macroeconomic, such as interest‑rate differentials, exchange‑rate instability or depreciation, poor domestic economic performance, investor risk perception, and weak financial markets. The vendor, Mansoor Hussain, subsequently forfeited most of his property empire following a NCA investigation, but I know of no evidence that Hussain was aware of the investigation at the time the sale was apparently agreed. Here’s a profile of Andy.

AMK was last seen speaking to the Money Advice Liaison Group:

Opening speech at the MALG conference this morning is the fabulously passionate Cllr Abigail Marshall Katung #malgconf2025 #debtadvice pic.twitter.com/hdKfYHYWHH

— Financially Included (@FinanciallyIncl) November 13, 2025

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Original

50. As I have already said, Mrs Katung was interviewed by Mr Coles on 11 March 2020. She was asked to explain how funds in Nigeria (in the local currency) were transferred to the UK (in sterling). Mrs Katung said the following:

“… but, like I said to you, in 2015 as well, we’d just had a new takeover of Government in Nigeria. So, all the banks, there was this policy, the Central Government were not transferring funds from Nigeria directly from the Central bank to any foreign country. So, if you needed to exchange, you had to go through the black market. As this was me, obviously, I had already moved house and I had only moved with £40,000. I meant to move in with £400,000. So, my husband said, “Well we’ve got the money now, so we have to look for ways in which to transfer the money from Nigeria to England. So it was at that point, almost every local bureau de change that you can think of around the country, I was calling any Nigerian who needed money to send to their home country, I was … I just, you know, word of mouth to people, “I will give you the naira” because that’s what the currency’s called. … “I will give you the naira, you give me pounds” and I paid everything, I said, “send it through to my business consultancy account.”

51. Mr Coles sought clarification of this answer and he put to Mrs Katung the following: “so essentially, you’ve put, for want of a better word, feelers out around the Nigerian community for anyone who wants sterling, the equivalent amount in naira, back in Nigeria, you would effectively buy the sterling off them and you would have the money transferred back in Nigeria, to whatever account they …”

52. Mrs Katung agreed with Mr Coles’ interpretation of her answers. She also agreed with the proposition that she was operating a money service bureau.

53. Finally, towards the end of the interview, we see the following exchange:

“AC: so, basically, your husband has sold the naira to the …?
KATUNG: that’s correct …
AC: and ultimately, your bank account has been given to all these random people.
KATUNG: that’s correct … that’s what happened.
AC: but you can see the danger here, can’t you?
KATUNG: I, I do, yeah, I do. Cos normally, we’ve gone through, like I said to you, er, we had to go through the, erm … the private, instead of going through the Central Bank.”

439 words.