THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission yesterday arraigned a former Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Executive Director of Projects, Mr. Tuoyo Omatsuli, for allegedly receiving N3.6 billion bribe from a contractor.
He was charged along with Don Parker Properties Limited, Francis Momoh and Building Associates Limited.
They were arraigned before Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court in Lagos on 45 counts.
EFCC accused Omatsuli of conspiring with the others “to disguise the illegal origin of a total sum of N3,645,000,000, being proceeds of an unlawful activity, to wit: corruption and gratification”.
They allegedly committed the offence between August 2014 and September 2015 in Lagos contrary to Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act No. 1 of 2012 and were liable to be punished under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
The defendants pleaded not guilty.
The EFCC had in May obtained a forfeiture order on Omatsuli’s four landed properties valued at N846.03 million.
An EFCC operative, Adamu Yusuf, said Omatsuli allegedly received a bribe of N3,645,000,000 from a consultant to the NDDC, Starline Consultancy Services Limited.
He said the firm was engaged to help NDDC recover its statutory three per cent annual budgets of oil and gas producing companies in the Niger Delta.
Yusuf said it was agreed that Starline Consultancy Services would be paid 10 per cent commission on the total funds recovered.
According to the operative, Starline Consultancy Services eventually succeeded in the job and was paid N10,218,019,060.59 as its 10 per cent commission between August 22, 2014 and June 25, 2015.
Yusuf said: “Omatsuli agreed and received kickbacks to the tune of N3,645,000,000.000 from Starline Consultancy Services Limited through Building Associates Limited, whose alter ego is Francis Momoh.”
The anti-graft agency presented a table showing that Omatsuli allegedly received kickbacks 11 times from Starline Consultancy Services between August 28, 2014 and September 8, 2015.
Justice Saliu Saidu adjourned until November 16 for hearing of the defendants’ applications and ordered that they be remanded in EFCC.
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