A prosecution witness in the trial of Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court said yesterday that the judge claimed that the huge cash, including foreign currencies, recovered from his Abuja home in 2016 was proceeds of his trade in palm oil, rice and foreign exchange.
Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) raided Justice Ngwuta’s Abuja official residence in October 2016 along with some other judges.
The DS later claimed to have recovered bags packed with cash, including foreign currencies (all estimated at N36million), in the judge’s house while executing a search warrant.
An operative of the DSS, Aminu Ibrahim Ndakpoto, told a Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday that Justice Nquta told his interrogators that the huge cash recovered in his house was from his unspent medical allowances and his trade in palm oil, rice and foreign exchange.
Ndakpoto spoke while testifying as the 6th prosecution witness in Justice Ngwuta’s trial before Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Justice Ngwuta is being tried on a 13-count charge of money laundering and unlawful possession of multiple passports.
Led in evidence by lead prosecuting lawyer, Mrs. Olufemi Fatunde, Ndakpoto said he was on the team that interrogated Justice Ngwuta from October 9, 2016. He gave the name of his colleague on the team as Mike.
The witness said Justice Ngwuta was in possession of multiple international passports, which he allegedly used interchangeably.
Ndakpoto said the judge changed his earlier claim in relation to how he came about the money the next day (October 10, 2016).
He said the judge subsequently denied knowledge of the money, allegedly claiming that although he owned the bags in which the money was found, he did not know how the DSS operatives came about the money.
The witness said: “I began the conversation with him on the items contained in the search warrant.
“The first thing that caught my attention was the cash listed on the search warrant.
“He (the judge) said the naira in the money was the accumulation of the monthly allowances paid to him in cash by the Supreme Court, and that what formed part of the money are proceeds of his trading in agricultural products. He said he trades in palm oil and rice.
“And that the foreign currency, dollars, is from his trade in foreign exchange. The defendant said he usually buys dollars when the rates are low and that he sells when the rates are high,” he said.
Ndakpoto said the judge also told him that part of the foreign currency is from his accumulated annual medical allowances paid to him in foreign currency by the Supreme Court.
He said the judge told him that since he had not been sick, he had no reason to spend the money, which informed why the money had accumulated.
The witness said when he asked the judge how he does his trade in agricultural produce, the defendant said he goes to the market to buy the items.
On who his partners and customers are, and where his warehouse is, the witness said Justice Ngwuta said he does not have a particular customer, but just buys from the open market.
The witness said the judge also told him that he does not have a partner. And that he has neither a warehouse or store.
Ndakpoto said when he asked the judge how he sources for the foreign currencies , he said he goes to mallams, where they trade in foreign currencies and buys and sells in the open market when he wants to sell.
The witness said everything the defendant said was recorded and could be played at anytime, by anyone who doubts his evidence.
The witness said: “When I asked him which bank account he operates, he said he only banks with Union Bank.
“On that day, there was no written statement by the defendant that I witnessed, that was on Sunday, October 9, 2016.
“Before he came to our office, there was news everywhere about the arrest of judges and that the defendant travelled to the UAE and some others to collect bribe to influence the case he was handling.
“When he came back the second day, I went to meet him at the waiting area. When we were coming down to my office, the defendant asked that we did not ask him about the money they said they found in his house.
“My colleague, Mike, reminded him that he had explained the previous day that the money was from his accumulated allowance, trades in foreign exchange and farm produce,” he said.
The witness said at a point, he asked the judge to narrate to them how the search of his house by our colleagues went.
He said the judge told him that contrary to what he had told them the previous day, “he was feeling feverish when our operatives came into his house. And that he was sitting down, that it was the operatives who searched the house without him following them around.
“He also said that he does not know how they came about the money. We asked him who owns the bags that contain the money, he said the bags are his own, but the money inside is not his own,” he said.
The witness said on the third day, October 11, they demanded for the judge’s international passports and that he brought multiple passports, including diplomatic and standard Nigerian international passports.
He said at a point they again asked the judge if he visited the United Arab Emirate (UAE), but that the judge insisted he was never in the UAE.
The witness added: “We then told him that there was proof from entries in his passports that he travelled to UAE.
“He then said he needed his lawyer before he could say anything else.
“We put it to him that he presented the passport he claimed was lost to the UAE Immigration Authority, but while leaving Nigeria, he presented a different passport,” he said.
The witness said the judge later returned with his lawyer, Paulinus Igwe.
At a point, Ngakpoto later asked for time to enable him pray. The judge consequently adjourned to January 10 next year for the witness to resume his testimony.
The prosecution alleged that during the raid on Justice Ngwuta’s Abuja house by the operatives of the DSS on October 7, 2016, total sums of N38.358m, $319,596 and £25,915 were found in his possession.
