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Tag: Justice Rilwan Aikawa

  • EFCC to re-arraign dismissed Ajumogobia Thursday

    She will be re-arraigned before Justice Rilwan Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Lagos, the Division she sat as a judge before she was sacked by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    The EFCC filed an 18-count charge against her.

    It follows her arrest after the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja struck out a previous charge against her on Tuesday for lack of jurisdiction.

    Ajumogobia will be brought to court from EFCC’s custody, it was learnt.

    A former EFCC prosecutor Mr Godwin Obla (SAN) is the second defendant in the charge numbered FHC/139C/19.

    READ ALSO: Breaking: EFCC lays siege in Court to arrest Ajumogobia

    EFCC said they conspired on May 21, 2014, to indirectly conceal N5million in the Diamond Bank account of Nigel & Colive Ltd which they “reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful act to wit: unlawful enrichment”.

    The alleged offence is contrary sections 15 (2) (a) and 18 (a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 and punishable under Section 15 (3).

    Ajumogobia was also accused of indirectly concealing N12million in the same account.

    EFCC, in another count, said she made a false statement to an officer that the money was payment for a property sale.

  • Ex-minister Usman gets permission to travel abroad

    Justice Rilwan Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday granted permission to a former Minister of State for Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, to travel to the United States for medical treatment.

    He ordered that her international passport, in the court’s custody, be released to her.

    Mrs. Usman had traveled abroad previously in the course of her money laundering trial to receive treatment for breast cancer.

    The first time she traveled, she said doctors at the National Hospital recommended further treatment abroad after she had a relapse following a surgery.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Usman along with former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

    They were charge along with former National Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) and ex-Chairman of Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Mr. Yusuf Danjuma and a company said to belong to him, Jointrust Dimentions Nigeria Limited.

    EFCC arraigned them on a 17-count charge of laundering about N4.6billion.

    They pleaded not guilty.

    On Thursday, Fani-Kayode’s lawyer, Mr. Norrison Quakers (SAN), resisted the attempt by the prosecution to tender a set of 108 Zenith Bank cheques as exhibits.

    The prosecuting counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, had sought to tender the cheques through the third prosecution witness, Shuaibu Shehu, an investigator with the EFCC.

    Oyedepo said the cheques were relevant to proving the allegations against Fani-Kayode.

    He said they were recovered by Shehu and his team while investigating the case.

    But Quakers urged the judge to reject them on the basis that they did not comply with Section 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and the Practice Direction of the Federal High Court 2013.

    Justice Aikawa adjourned until March 15 for ruling.

  • Fani-kayode’s co-accused ‘slumps in bathroom’

    The Federal High Court in Lagos Wednesday heard that former Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) chairman Mr. Yusuf Danjuma slumped while having a bath and was hospitalised.

    He is on trial with former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode and former Minister of State for Finance Senator Nenadi Usman for alleged money laundering involving about N4.6billion.

    Trial was billed to resume Wednesday, but Danjuma, a former Chairman of Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, was absent.

    His lawyer K.C Nwofo told the court that he received a call in the early hours of Tuesday from Danjuma’s wife that the third defendant collapsed in the bathroom.

    He said the wife had called out neighbours in their Jere Kaduna home who joined in taking Danjuma to the hospital.

    Nwofo said since he was yet to get a copy of the hospital report, he did not know what Danjuma suffered from. He promised to make details of the diagnosis available to the court once he gets it.

    The court had at an earlier proceeding heard that Zenith Bank Plc did not consider transactions made by Fani-Kayode as unlawful.

    The bank’s Head of Ghana Street Branch in Abuja, Sheelis Gana, said the bank would have stopped the transactions had they been considered illegal.

    Gana testified that Fani-Kayode opened a personal account in January 2015 and that there several inflows into it, including various sums from Jointrust Dimentions’ account. Join trust is the fourth defendant.

    She said several transfers were made to other beneficiaries, and that cheques were written in Fani-Kayode’s name and were paid.

    He said 19 cheques were issued by Fani-Kayode on February 3, 2015, most of them for N10million.

    “The cheques were honoured by my bank. There were no complaints from the second defendant (Fani-Kayode) after the funds were drawn from the account,” he said.

    Gana said there was an instruction to transfer various sums into Fani-Kayode’s account, including N240million from Jointrust Dimentions, as well as N250million, among others.

    Justice Rilwan Aikawa adjourned until June 11 and 12 for continuation of trial.

    Read ALSO: Witness: Fani-Kayode made multiple cash withdrawals of N10m

  • Court orders forfeiture of N28m, property ‘stolen’ by Lagos director

    Court orders forfeiture of N28m, property ‘stolen’ by Lagos director

    The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the temporary forfeiture of N28.5million allegedly stolen by a Director of Accounts in the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC) Mr Anifowoshe Muhammed Jamiu Alade.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the sum recovered from him “is reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity to wit: stealing.”

    Justice Rilwan Aikawa ordered the interim forfeiture to the Federal Government of properties recovered from Alade.

    They include six flats of three bedroom, six flats of two bedroom, six flats of one Bedroom at Adewale Osiyeku Street, Offin-Ile Igbogbo, Ikorodu, and four flats of three bedroom duplex at 6, Tunde Gabby Close, Dopemu Area Pako Bus Stop Agege, all of which EFCC said were “reasonably suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of theft”.

    Other properties forfeited to the Federal Government are a plot of land at Queen’s Garden Estate, off Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, a semi-detached three bedroom flat and one unit of three bedroom terrace at Cranbel Court, Citiview Estate Arepo, Ogun State.

    Justice Aikawa directed EFCC to notify Alade to appear before the court and show cause within 14 days why the properties should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.

    “The money and properties sought to be attached are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of an unlawful activities stolen, diverted and retained by the respondent (Alade) from the Public Works Corporation, Lagos State,” EFCC said.

    The commission said Alade, being a Director of Account in the corporation, was “the custodian, initiator, first authoriser and final authoriser of the corportation’s internet banking system”.

    EFCC said the respondent allegedly incorporated a company called MAJ Anny International Limited, of which he is a director and signatory to its account.

    In a supporting affidavit, the commission’s operative Zayyanu Halliru, said: “We traced to the respondent the sum of N106,095,960.00 which sums he fraudulently stole from Public Works Corporation, Lagos State to his personal account No. 0015893001 domiciled in Guaranty Trust Bank and converted same to his personal use.

    “We traced to the respondent the sum of N223, 373,475.00 which sums he fraudulently stole from Public Works Corporation, Lagos State to MAJ Anny International Limited being his company account domiciled in Zenith Bank.

    “The respondent used part of the proceeds of crime allegedly stolen from Public Work Corporation, Lagos State to purchase and acquire properties

    “Out of the stolen funds highlighted above, the respondent purchased two properties from a company called Property Mart Real Estate Investment Limited in the sum of N37, 740,000.00. Out of the above, we have recovered the sum of N28, 500,000.00

    “The sums and the building highlighted above are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities stolen from the Public Work Corporation, Lagos State.

    “The order of this court is needed to forfeit this aforementioned sums and the building to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

    Justice Aikawa adjourned till January 16.

     

     

  • SAN, ex-minister signed for ‘N450m Diezani cash’, says witness

    SAN, ex-minister signed for ‘N450m Diezani cash’, says witness

    The Federal High Court in Lagos Monday heard that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mohammed Belgore and a former minister of National Planning Prof Abubakar Suleiman admitted collecting 450million in cash from Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke without going through a financial institution.

    An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator, Usman Zakari, said they also signed for the money.

    Under cross examination by Belgore’s lawyer Ebun Shofunde (SAN), he said: “The two defendants admitted signing the receipt of payment with which they collected the sum of N450 million. The first defendant (Belgore) particularly admitted disbursing the money.”

    However, Zakari said this was not contained in a statement he wrote at the end of his investigation.

    On the timeline of events leading to the defendants’ arrest, Shofunde asked: “Am I correct to say that the event leading to this charge took place between December 2014 to March 2015?”

    The witness responded: “No, it commenced from November 2014 to March 2015.”

    Shofunde then suggested: “I put it to you that at no time did the defendant admit to you that he collected the sum of N450million.”

    The witness replied that Belgore admitted appending his signature on the payment receipt.

    He denied a suggestion that the accused person did not admit making disbursement of the funds. “That is not correct,” Zakari said.

    On whether he confronted the accused with a list produced by Belgore on cash disbursement (exhibit seven), the witness replied: “I did not”

    Suleiman’s lawyer Chief Tunji Ayanlaja (SAN) asked Zakari: “Did you find anything incriminating against him (Suleiman)?” The witness said: “Yes, my Lord.”

    The SAN said: “The purpose of your investigation was to find things incriminating against him,” to which Zakari responded: “Yes.”

    The witness denied Ayanlaja’s suggestion that the money remained in the bank till March 28, 2015, saying: “That’s not correct”, before admitting that the bank would be in a better position to say when the N450million left.

    Prosecuting counsel Rotimi Oyedepo said EFCC intends to amend the charge to reflect Exhibit Seven.

    According to him, the amendment was necessary to accommodate all evidence at the commission’s disposal.

    “We intend to amend the charge in line with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and the evidences with us. The law is that we can amend any time before judgment is delivered,” the lawyer said.

    EFCC said former Petroleum Resources Minister Alison-Madueke allegedly shared $115,010,000 (about N41.4billion) to different individuals in 36 states ahead of the 2015 general election.

    It accused Belgore and Suleiman of directly receiving N450million in cash from Alison-Madueke without going through a financial institution.

    They pleaded not guilty.

    The money they received, the commission said, was shared to electoral officers and others in Kwara State.

    The alleged offence contravened sections 1 (a), 16 (d) and 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act 2012 and punishable under Section 16 (2) (b).

    Justice Rilwan Aikawa adjourned until November 24 for continuation of trial.

    Read Also: Court: Diezani’s application for trial in Nigeria bizarre, misconceived

  • Fani-Kayode challenges court’s jurisdiction to try him for ‘money laundering’

    Fani-Kayode challenges court’s jurisdiction to try him for ‘money laundering’

    …EFCC seeks to tender N30m cash receipts

     

    A former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode Wednesday asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to decline territorial jurisdiction in his trial for alleged money laundering.

    He prayed Justice Rilwan Aikawa to transfer the case to the court’s Abuja division where the alleged offence was committed.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) re-arraigned Fani-Kayode and former finance minister (state) Senator Nenadi Usman for alleged N4.6billion fraud.

    They pleaded not guilty to the 17-count charge of money laundering.

    The defendants were first arraigned last June 28 before Justice Muslim Hassan, but the judge recused himself on March 16 after Fani-Kayode accused him of likely bias.

    Justice Hassan was head of legal department at EFCC before his appointment as a judge and had overseen a previous money laundering charge against Fani-Kayode.

    The judge returned the case file to the Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, who re-assigned it to Justice Aikawa.

    Fani-Kayode’s lawyer Mr Norrison Quakers (SAN) said the court lacked the jurisdiction to try the former minister in Lagos.

    According to him, the facts of the case show that all the transactions which the former minister carried out as Director of Media and Publicity of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, for which he was charged, took place in Abuja.

    Besides, he said the defendant stays in Abuja and has another trial currently going in Abuja in another case.

    But, EFCC’s lawyer Rotimi Oyedepo urged the court to refuse the application as, according to him, the transaction instruments “were recovered in Lagos.”

    “The consequence of the alleged offence of money laundering is not limited to Abuja, but the entire federation. All the instruments of transaction were brought by Zenith Bank in Lagos.

    “The financial institutions used in the transactions have their head offices in Lagos,” Oyedepo said, adding that 13 of the prosecution’s 17 witnesses live in Lagos.

    Oyedepo said Fani-Kayode also raised the issue of transfer before Justice Hassan, yet when the file was returned to the Chief Judge, he re-assigned the case to another judge in Lagos rather than one in Abuja.

    He argued that the CJ had already exercised his discretion on where the case should be heard by re-assigning it to a judge in Lagos.

    Before the application for transfer was moved, Oyedepo had sought to tender receipts showing that Fani-Kayode made a cash payment of N30million to the first prosecution witness, a media consultant, Adewumi Idowu.

    The receipts acknowledge cash payments of N24million and N6million.

    “The documents were made by the witness. He identified them as the receipts he issued. They are extremely relevant to the facts in issue.

    “The receipts form the crux of counts 16 and 17 of the charge. We seek to tender the documents,” Oyedepo said.

    But, Quakers objected on the basis that the documents were not the original copies.

    He said the prosecution did not satisfy the requirements of Section 88 (c) of the Evidence Act which requires that there must be evidence of a thorough search for an original document before a duplicate can be accepted.

    Justice Aikawa adjourned till September 26 and 27 for ruling and continuation of trial.