A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday discharged and acquitted a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, of the money laundering charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia held that the prosecution did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that Fani-Kayode was guilty as charged.
She described EFCC’s case as “feeble”, adding that the testimony of the fourth prosecution witness (PW4), Supo Agbaje, who testified that Fani-Kayode gave him cash to pay into his account, was not reliable.
According to her, PW4’s testimony was contradictory, even as the prosecution did not show proof that Fani-Kayode received the money in cash.
“Any doubt must be resolved in favour of the accused person,” the judge said.
She added: “The solitary issue for determination is whether the prosecution has been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt the elements of the offence committed.
“The giver of the money to PW4 remains unclear. The oral testimony of PW4 before this court is at variance with his earlier voluntary submission before the EFCC.
“I find unreliable the testimony of PW4 that it was the accused person that gave him the sums of money to pay into his account.
“His testimony before this court seems to be an afterthought by the fact that PW4 who was stated by the prosecution to be at large initially suddenly resurfaced to give testimony on behalf of the prosecution.
“The law is trite that where there are two or more conflicting testimonies by a witness, such testimonies must be discarded by the court,” the judge said.
One of Fani-Kayode’s witnesses had claimed that the amount were proceeds of rent paid by those living in the former minister’s estate.
Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia said even though the claim was also doubtful, the source and motive of receiving the money was irrelevant since the issue was about cash transactions exceeding N500,000 without going through a financial institution.
“I do not agree with the prosecution that evidence of deposits in the bank account of the accused person without more is sufficient evidence to show that the latter received cash payments from unknown sources of sums above the statutory threshold of N500,000.
“The fallacy in such argument lies in the fact that it would remain unclear as to whether the accused person received the alleged sums in tranches,” she said.
She said it was necessary for sufficient and unequivocal evidence to be put before the court as to how and in what manner the monies were actually received, which she said EFCC failed to do.
“By the fact that the giver and source of the money are hazy and unproven, it remains the law that where there are doubts or insufficient evidence linking the accused person with the elements and ingredients of the offence, a court must discharge him as a matter of law,” she held.
In all, she found that the allegations against Fani-Kayode were not successfully proven, as the source of the money was unclear.
“It is apparent that the prosecution’s case is feeble and has failed to establish that the accused person made or accepted cash deposits exceeding the authorised limits and did not do so through a financial institution.
“The prosecution has, therefore, failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that an offence has been committed under Section 15 (1) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2004.
“I am of the considered view that the accused person, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, in the absence of copious evidence before the court, ought to be discharged and acquitted of the two surviving counts of the amended charge and I so hold,” the judge held.
She praised prosecution counsel Festus Keyamo for his activism and dexterity in swiftly prosecuting the case, saying if other prosecutors were like him, several pending criminal cases would have been decided.
Fani-Kayode, who was Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign in this year’s general election, was accused of making a transaction exceeding N500,000 on September 20, 2006, which was not done through a financial institution.
He was said to have accepted N2.1 million in cash, which was paid into his personal bank account by his aide, Supo Agbaje, while he served as Minister of Culture and Tourism.
Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia had, last November 17, directed Fani-Kayode to defend two of 40-count money laundering charges.
The judge held that the commission did not prove the other counts sufficiently and partially upheld Fani-Kayode’s no-case submission.
She discharged and acquitted him of the rest of the 38 counts on the grounds that the prosecution failed to prove “elements” of the allegations.
Fani-Kayode, therefore, defended counts 25 and 26.
Fani-Kayode, in the course of his public service, was also accused of stealing N19.5 billion aviation intervention fund and another N6.5 billion. He was later accused of laundering N200 million.
Keyamo indicated that EFCC might appeal the judgment, saying: “We’ll sit down at the corporate level and take a decision.”
After the verdict, Fani-Kayode, in a statement, said: “I am delighted, humbled and relieved by this verdict. In the last seven years, I have been subjected to the most malicious, vicious, sinister, well-orchestrated, insidious and devastating form of political persecution and wickedness.
“The whole process almost destroyed my life, my family, my reputation, my health and my career. I thank God for his goodness, His mercy and for the fact that today, the whole nightmare has finally come to an end.”
He said he would no longer be known as David Oluwafemi Fani-Kayode, “but instead, it shall be David Oluwafemi Olukayode. Olukayode means ‘the Lord has brought me joy’ and today he has done precisely that”.
“From this day, in honour of Him and as a small tribute to my love for and total dependence on Him, that shall remain my family name.”
He added that following the verdict, he would be travelling out for the first time in seven years for “a short holiday and a long overdue medical examination”.
