Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday discharged and acquitted a former Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Femi Thomas, of $2.1 million money laundering charge filed against him by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Ayokunle Faji discharged him on five of six counts but found him guilty on count five – making a cash transaction above the legal threshold of N5 million.
The judge held that EFCC failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt allegations in counts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7.
He ordered EFCC to release the funds previously seized from Dr. Thomas, noting the agency had no basis to continue holding them.
The court said the funds would be released subject to payment of a N10 million fine imposed on him for the count on which he was convicted.
The judge ordered him to pay the fine in lieu of sentence.
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He found the second defendant, Kabiru Sidi, guilty on count six – the only count against him – for claiming ownership of the money in question during EFCC probe.
Sidi was fined N100,000.
The court, which said Thomas made his money legitimately, gave him seven days to pay the fine from day of judgment.
He is not to leave the country till he pays, the judge held.
Thomas and Sidi were arraigned on June 28, 2017, before Justice Faji on an amended seven-count of money laundering involving $2,198,900.
The charges included conspiracy, unlawful enrichment, and making false statements.
During the allocutus, counsel to the first defendant, Mr. Collins Ogbonna, who led Mr. Kunle Gbolahan, pleaded for leniency, describing Thomas as a first-time offender with an fine professional record.
He noted that the defendant had trained cardiologists, established the cardiology department at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and is a retiree with a dependent child still in school.
He urged the court to give him a non-custodial sentence, preferably a fine, following his contributions to the country and family circumstances.
Counsel for the second defendant, Mr. O. Ajanaku, also pleaded for mercy, citing his client’s dire health challenges.
