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Tag: Witness

  • How Jonathan’s minister, two others withdrew N450m cash, Witness tells court

    A prosecution witness, Annette Gyen, on Monday told a Jos Federal High Court how former Water Resources Minister, Sarah Ochekpe, and two others withdrew N450 million from Fidelity Bank Plc.

    Mrs Ochekpe, and the two others – Raymond Dabo, former Plateau PDP Chairman, and Leo Jatau, Coordinator of the President Goodluck Johnathan campaign in Plateau – are being tried by EFCC for allegedly collecting N450 million from former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, in 2015.

    The anti-graft agency is alleging that the trio collected N450 million from one Annette Olije-Gyen, Operation Manager of Fidelity Bank, which exceeded the amount authorised by law

    The EFCC has also alleged that the offence contravened sections 18 (a)(d), 1 (a), 16(1)(d), and was punishable under section 16 (2) of Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2012, (as amended).

    Ms Gyen, in her testimony, told the court that her boss, who was the then Group Divisional Head of Operations, Martins Ezuogbe, directed the bank cashiers to disburse the money to the trio.

    “On March 26, 2015, we obediently called the trio, who came to our office and were given the money.

    “After confirming the money, we gave them our bullion van with which they conveyed it.”

    She said that on January 8, 2017, the bank received a letter from EFCC asking for details of the transaction.

    “On January 11, we responded to that request,” she said.

    The prosecutor, Ahmed Munchaka’s request that the two letters be tendered as evidence was, however, vehemently rejected by the defence lawyers.

    Messrs Gyang Zi and S.O. Oyewale, lawyers to Messrs Ochekpe, Jatau and Dabo, argued that the letters should not be admitted because they were not original copies.

    “The bank should have produced original copies of the letters; the court cannot work with photocopies because they might have been tampered with. We can only accept original copies,” they argued.

    Mr Munchaka, however, insisted that the letters be admitted since they had been authenticated by all parties.

    “The letters are acceptable in law because they have been authenticated; they are as good as original copies,” he argued.

    He further argued that the documents should be admitted because they were “very vital letters in evidence”.

    After listening to the parties, the judge, Musa Kurya, adjourned the case till May 17 and May 18 for ruling on whether or not to admit the letters, and continuation of hearing.

  • EFCC witness in alleged N2.3bn fraud against Orji Kalu ‘relocates’ to Cameroon

    EFCC witness in alleged N2.3bn fraud against Orji Kalu ‘relocates’ to Cameroon

    Akpan Udoh, an accountant in the Abia State Government House, who was scheduled to testify in the alleged N3.2 billion fraud trial of the former Abia Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, has relocated to Cameroon.

    The counsel to the prosecution told a Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday that Mr. Udoh was listed as a witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The EFCC had on October 31, 2016 slammed a 34-count charge bordering on N3.2 billion fraud against Kalu and his former Commissioner for Finance, Ude Udeogo as well as Kalu’s company — Slok Nigeria Ltd.

    Mr. Kalu and others allegedly committed the offences between August 2001 and October 2005.

    The accused had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    So far, the prosecution had called no fewer than 12 witnesses since the trial began.

    At the trial of the case at the previous adjournment, the EFCC Prosecutor, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) had called the 13th prosecution witness, Tobore Ovie, who introduced himself as an operative with the EFCC.

    He was led in evidence by the prosecutor who also tendered some documents through the witness.

    At Tuesday’s proceedings, the witness was reminded that he was still under oath and counsel to the first accused, Awa Kalu (SAN) began cross-examination.

    The witness told the court that he did not know if the prosecution’s intended witness, Mr. Udoh, an accountant in Abia State Government House who EFCC claimed was on the run, is still alive

    He said that he had not met Mr. Udoh before and that he did not reside with the first accused.

    During re-examination, the witness said that Mr. Udoh had deliberately evaded giving evidence and that he had earlier been cooperating with the commission before they lost contact with him.

    According to the witness, they were able to reach his brother who claimed that Mr. Udoh had relocated to Cameroon.

    “Further efforts to get his call logs from his service provider showed that he has been hovering between Cameroon, Republic of Benin and Katsina State.”

    The prosecution called its next witness, who, in his evidence-in-chief introduced himself as Emojevwe Eboh, a compliance officer with a commercial bank.

    He told the court that his scope of duty involves responding to requests from regulator bodies and law enforcement agencies.

    The witness disclosed that the EFCC wrote a letter to the bank requesting for the account statement and opening packages of General Ventures Nigeria Ltd.

    He said the required authenticated documents including the certificate of identification were made available to the commission.

    The prosecution tendered the documents the witness identified and the letter the commission wrote to the bank, requesting those documents and were marked as Exhibits R six to R 60.

    The witness identified the first accused and Godwin Akubuike as the shareholders and directors of General Ventures Nigeria Ltd.

    He further listed 40 local cheques credited into the company’s account.

    Justice Mohammed Idris adjourned the case until March 28 and March 29 for cross-examination.

    Mr. Kalu was alleged to have utilised his company to retain in the account of a commercial bank the sum of N200 million.

    The sum was said to have formed part of funds illegally derived from the coffers of the Abia State Government.

    Slok Nigeria Ltd and a man, Emeka Abone, who is still at large, were also alleged to have retained in the company’s account the sum of N200 million on behalf of the first accused (Kalu).

    The accused were alleged to have retained about N2.5 billion in different accounts which funds were said to belong to the Abia State Government.

    Cumulatively, the accused were alleged to have diverted over N3.2 billion from the state government’s treasury during Mr. Kalu’s tenure as governor.

    The offences contravened the provisions of Sections 15(6), 16, and 21 of the Money Laundering (Prohibitions) Act, 2005.

    The offences also violated the Money Laundering Act of 1995 (as amended) Act No.9 of 2002 and Section 477 of the Criminal Code, Law of the Federation, 1990.

     

  • Dasukigate: Dokpesi did not execute any project for N2.1bn received – Witness

    Dasukigate: Dokpesi did not execute any project for N2.1bn received – Witness

    The trial of a former Chairman, DAAR Communications Plc, Raymond Dokpesi, continued on Friday before Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with Abubakar Madaki, the twelfth prosecution witness (PW12), revealing how the defendant received funds from the Office of National Security Adviser, under the leadership of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), for services not rendered.

    Under cross-examination by Kanu Agabi, counsel for Mr. Dokpesi, the EFCC operative, stressed that the defendant “did not do any contract but was paid”.

    “This was what led to his prosecution, and the funds involved is N2.120 billion, which went out from the national security account,” he said.

    Mr. Madaki, who told the court that he never at anytime saw the budget of the NSA as he was not asked to investigate it, noted that funds which in the account, “were there for purposes and some of the beneficiaries of the said money, did genuine contracts and got paid”.

    “Dokpesi did not do any contract, but was paid,” he added.

    He said: “The funds were found in his account and there was no reason for it. No services rendered. The funds have a purpose. Other beneficiaries did genuine contracts and got paid, but the two defendants (Dokpesi and DAAR Investment and Holdings Ltd) here did not do any contract to be paid for”.

    Mr. Dokpesi alongside DAAR Investment and Holdings Ltd, owners of African Independent Television, AIT, and Raypower are being prosecuted by the EFCC, on a six-count charge bordering on alleged procurement fraud and breach of public trust.

    He is alleged to have received N2.1billion from the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, between October 2014 and March 2015, which was used for the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential media campaign.

    Justice Tsoho, thereafter adjourned to April 13, 2018 for “continuation of cross-examination”.

  • How Alison-Madueke allegedly paid ex-minister Akinjide, others N650 million – Witness

    Usman Zakari, a witness in the ongoing trial of a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Olajumoke Akinjide, on Friday told Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, how Ms. Akinjide and others received N650 million in the build-up to the 2015 general election.

    Ms. Akinjide alongside Ayo Adeseun and a Peoples Democratic (PDP) stalwart, Olanrewaju Otiti, were re-arraigned on January 16 on an amended 24-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N650 million.

    They were alleged to have received the money from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, in the build-up to the 2015 general election.

    The money was part of the $115 million allegedly disbursed by Mrs. Alison- Madueke to influence the outcome of the 2015 presidential election.

    In his testimony at Friday’s sitting, Mr. Zakari, who is an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told the court how the commission had received what he described as “classified category A intelligence report’’ against the defendants in a case of money laundering to the tune of N650m late 2014.

    He further told the court that there was a meeting, sometime in 2015, at the residence of Mrs. Alison-Madueke, in which the managing director of a new generation bank and some oil marketers were in attendance.

    Mr. Zakari also told the court that it was during the meeting that Mrs. Alison-Madueke informed the bank chief that some oil marketers and other individuals would lodge some foreign currencies in his bank on her behalf.

    “Upon receipt of the intelligence report against the defendants, information was sent to the Special Taskforce Team 4, where I head, for analysis and further investigation.

    “We then sent letters of investigation activities and letters of invitation to the banks and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Secretariat in Oyo State.

    “The letters of invitation was also extended to the defendants,” he added.

    Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, the witness also told the court that in the course of investigations, it was discovered that Allison-Madueke, three oil marketers and some individuals held a meeting on December 2014, adding that “after the meeting, Alison-Madueke told the bank executive that three oil companies would pay some dollars to his bank.

    Embattled former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke

    “The companies are: Acuts Intergrated Limited, which paid $17.8m; Northern Belt Oil/Gas Company, which paid $60m; Med-western Oil Services Limited, which paid $9.5m dollars and one A. Williams, who paid $1.8m.”

    The witness said his findings showed that three oil marketers and individuals paid $89 million, while the aides to Alison-Madueke made available $25 million in suite cases, totalling $115 million, which he said were housed in the bank.

    “Alison-Madueke, on March 26, 2015, ordered the bank to convert the said $115 million, which was equivalent to N23 billion – the bank complied.

    “After the conversion, she directed the bank to pay the sum of N650 million to the 1st and 2nd defendant and one Yinka Taiwo through her son, Ogbonna Madueke.

    “Findings revealed that the first and second defendants and one Yinka Taiwo went to one of the bank branches in Oyo and signed the receipt for the payment of N650 million. They took the money to the residence of the 1st defendant and made the payment of N650 million, without following any financial institution,” he added.

    The defence team led by Bolaji Ayorinde, objected to the evidence of the witness on the grounds that he did not attend the meeting between Mrs. Alison-Madueke, oil marketers and the individuals.

    They told the court that the evidence of the witness did not relate to the charge against the defendants, adding that it was unconstitutional.

    “He can only give evidence of taking possession of N650 million not $115m because it was not mentioned in the charge against the defendants, ” they said.

    Mr. Ayorinde prayed the court not to use the evidence by the witness to form part of court records ‘‘because all his evidence was hear-say rather than direct evidence.’’

    In his response, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that the evidence of the PW2 was the finding of his investigation, which could not amount to hear-say.

    “My Lord, a charge against the defendants cannot be bad because the charge did not contain all the particulars given as evidence by the witness,” he added.

    Mr. Oyedepo, therefore, prayed the court to admit the evidence of the witness.

    Justice Hassan adjourned the case to March 23 and April 9 for continuation of hearing

  • We found $1 million cash in Badeh’s wardrobe – Witness tells court

    We found $1 million cash in Badeh’s wardrobe – Witness tells court

    Anna Akuson, a witness in the N3.9 billion fraud trial involving Alex Badeh, former Chief of Air Staff, on Wednesday told Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja how a search conducted on a property allegedly belonging to defendant led to the recovery of $1 million suspected to be proceeds of illicit deals.

    Mr. Akuson, an operative of the EFCC, who testified as PW20, said that the money was found in a wardrobe at the upper apartment of the building located at No. 6 Ogun River Street, Off Danube Street, Maitama, Abuja.

    Led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Akuson said:

    “I am a cameraman working with the EFCC. On February 24, 2016, I was assigned to go on a search with some operatives. The team leader told me the properties (we were to search) belong to Alex Badeh.

    “On reaching the place, I started my recording from outside. In the master bedroom (upstairs), we found a travelling bag covered with a pillow-case in the wardrobe. We opened the travelling bag and found US dollars inside. We brought the bag down and the money was counted.

    “After the search, we returned to the office and I copied the visual from my camera to a hard drive, after which I burned it to a DVD disc”.

    Thereafter, the prosecution sought to tender the certificate of identification and the DVD disc of the recording, but its admissibility was strongly objected to by Mr. Badeh’s counsel, Akin Olujimi.

    While relying on Section 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Mr. Olujimi argued, “I am for the first time seeing these documents in court now that the Registrar handed them over to me.

    “There is no doubt that the prosecutor did not include these two documents in the information he filed before this court. That means we have been deprived of the rights of an accused person by the law. These two documents ought to have accompanied the information which the court has”.

    Responding, Mr. Jacobs argued that the documents had been made available to the defence when the EFCC’s investigating officer (who testified as PW19) gave his evidence. However, he offered to avail the defence counsel copies of the documents.

    Mr. Olujimi further applied that the next date of hearing, which is March 1 be vacated to enable the defence study the documents and prepare their defence.

    Consequently, Justice Abang adjourned to March 14 for continuation of trial.

    Mr. Badeh is facing trial alongside Iyalikam Nigeria Limited, on a 10-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N3.9billion.

    He, among other things, allegedly between January and December, 2013, used dollar equivalent of N1.4 billion removed from the accounts of the Nigerian Air Force to purchase a mansion situated at No. 6, Ogun River Street, Off Danube Street, Maitama, Abuja.

     

  • How Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia received 12m in tranches from custom officer – Witness

    The corruption trial of Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia continued on Friday before the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, with the prosecution highlighting a payment of N8m into her company’s account on February 4, 2015.

    The 12th prosecution witness, Abdullahi Lawal, told the court that when Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia, a serving judge of the Federal High Court, was confronted with her statement of account in respect of the N8m payment, “she lied about the source and the purpose of the payment.”

    The judge is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged bribery and unlawful enrichment.

    Among other things, the anti-graft agency accused her of receiving a total of $793,800 in several tranches from different sources between 2012 and 2015, “so as to have a significant increase in your assets, that you cannot reasonably explain the increase in relation to your lawful income.”

    Also being prosecuted is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Godwin Obla, who was accused of giving the judge a bribe of N5m.

    The two defendants had pleaded not guilty.

    At the resumed trial on Friday, Lawal, an investigator with the EFCC, told the presiding judge, Justice Hakeem Oshodi, that in the course of investigation, the EFCC discovered a payment of N8m into the account of Nigel and Colive Ltd., a company belonging to Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia.

    Led in evidence by the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, the investigator said, “She (Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia) was confronted about that payment where she mentioned that the money was from the sale of her land at Abeokuta.

    “She said the land was sold to two people, she first mentioned one Haruna Abdullahi and later mentioned that the land was sold to one Tola.

    “Our investigation revealed that Haruna was a Bureau de Change operator in Lagos here and there was no such transaction between the parties; whereas Tola was a building contractor; he was the contractor that handled the building of her residence at Parkview Estate and there was no form of land transaction between them.

    “The payment of N8m was done by one Grand B Limited. There was no transaction between Grand B Ltd and Nigel and Colive.”

    Lawal testified further that one Omali Musa, an Assistant Comptroller at the Nigeria Customs Service, paid N12m on July 11, 2014 into the account of Nigel and Colive Ltd.

    According to him, the N12m was paid in three tranches of N4m, N3m and N5m on the same day.

    In the course of Friday’s proceedings, the prosecution also attempted to establish that the judge lied about being hospitalised at Gold Cross Hospital, Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    The prosecution played in the open court the audio recording of two telephone conversations between Lawal and Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia.

    In the first, Lawal’s voice was heard asking Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia if she was still at the hospital, to which she responded, “Yes.”

    But when Lawal asked: “Which ward?” the judge, with what seemed to be a note of agitation or surprise in her voice, responded, “Are you here!”

    And as the investigator responded, “Yes, I am at the hospital”, there was no further response from the other end, even as the investigator kept saying, “Hello! Hello! Hello!”

    When asked by the prosecutor what happened, Lawal said, “What happened was that Honourable Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia’s phone went off; I was calling and she was not responding.”

    Lawal explained that his decision to call the judge on the telephone was because, upon getting to the hospital, he discovered that she was not there, contrary to what she had told the investigator during an earlier telephone conversation.

    The audio recording of the second telephone conversation between the judge and the investigator indicated that the judge had told the investigator that she was hospitalised at Gold Cross Hospital.

    She had assured the investigator that she would report at the EFCC’s office as soon as she was discharged, saying she was not running away and that she would ask the doctors to discharge her soon, as “I will tell them I am not as sick as they think I am.”

    Towards the end of the conversation, the judge had asked whether the investigator intended to visit her at the hospital, to which the investigator said, “No.”

    When asked why he later visited the hospital, the investigator said, “We just went there to confirm that she was there.”

    Further proceedings were adjourned till February 23, 2018.‎

  • Alleged N3.2bn fraud: Again, EFCC’s star witness in Orji Kalu’s trial absconds

    The trial of a former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, was stalled Tuesday after the prosecution, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), failed to present one of its major witnesses.

    Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the EFCC, told Mohammed Idris of a Lagos Division of the Federal High Court that the Commission had been having difficulties tracking down its next witness, M.A Udoh.

    “Our main witness that we intend to call, we have approached him for more than six months,” said Mr. Jacobs, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

    “We have noticed that each time the matter is coming up, he would just travel to Umuahia or Calabar or Cameroon.

    “He always has the dates of the matter and I was forced to apply for a subpoena. Your Lordship signed one, which we took to the Abia State Government House, Umuahia because we found out that he was a civil servant, but on getting there, we were told that he had since left service.

    “He was supposed to come today but he switched off his phone. EFCC operatives went to his house in Umuahia, yesterday (Monday) and this morning, they met his wife who said he had travelled to Calabar. Despite all the efforts we have not been able to bring him to court.”

    Mr. Jacobs alleged that some persons were behind Mr. Udoh’s uneasiness and urged the court to give a short adjournment to enable him locate and bring Mr. Udoh, a retired employee of the Abia State Government House, Umuahia, to testify in court.

    The defence lawyers, however, objected vehemently to the request for a short adjournment saying it was frivolous.

    Awa Kalu, Solo Akoma, and K.C.Nwofor (all Senior Advocates of Nigeria) expressed disappointment at the prosecution’s request for adjournment, noting that they had abandoned other pressing matters in Abuja and flown to Lagos just to ensure that there was no further delay in the case that had lasted for over 10 years.

    “We are not going to agree to a request that will force Your Lordship to close for one week,” said Mr. Kalu, a professor of Law.

    Mr. Akoma, while aligning himself with Mr. Kalu, recalled that on November 30, last year, while the judge was adjourning the matter, Mr. Jacobs had told the court that he had four more witnesses to call, including Mr. Udoh.

    He wondered why any of the other three witnesses was also not produced in court, even if the prosecution were unable to locate Mr. Udoh.

    “That shows the frivolity of the steps they have taken to bring their witnesses to court,” Mr. Akoma said.

    He urged the court to either foreclose the prosecution’s case or if the request for an adjournment would be granted, the court should order the prosecution to bear the cost of the defence’s transportation and hotel accommodation.

    This, he said, was in line with the provisions of Section 396(6) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.

    Toeing the same line of argument, Mr. Nwofor said it was regrettable that since the trial resumed, all the adjournments had been at the instance of the prosecution.

    He said on account of the slow pace of the case, his client, which is a company, had lost huge amount in foreign currency in terms of contracts.

    “We had 3,000 workers who have lost their jobs; we had 250 expatriates, they have lost their jobs and my friend is here asking for an adjournment,” he added.

    Mr. Nwofor added that he had been unable to get his legal fee as his client was broke and was eagerly waiting for the trial to end.

    He urged the court to award a cost of N10 million against the prosecution in favour of his client for the delay.

    But Mr. Jacobs argued that the case was delayed for over 10 years at the instance of the defendants who pursued an interlocutory appeal – an appeal against an aspect of a case before trial has concluded – all the way to the Supreme Court.

    He said it was due to the time spent by the defendants pursuing the interlocutory appeal that the prosecution was experiencing difficulties in assembling its witnesses some of whom had died, retired or relocated out of the jurisdiction.

    “If they had allowed us to go on within two to three years of the case, all our witnesses would have been assembled in one day,” he said, urging the judge to grant his request for an adjournment and to reject the award of cost.

    In his ruling, the judge noted that the case had been adjourned on four different occasions at the request of the prosecution.

    “Where a witness that ought to attend court fails to attend court and summons has been issued and served on the same witness, then the prosecution would pursue the appropriate provisions of the ACJA to compel the attendance of the witness in court,” the judge said.

    “This trial will no longer be adjourned on account of unavailability of witness to attend court… It is unfortunate that a trial, which has been adjourned for hearing from day to day could not proceed due to witness unavailability.”

    The judge, however, conceded to an adjournment but warned that it would be the last of its kind.

    The matter was subsequently adjourned till January 22 and 23.

    Mr. Kalu, Udeh Jones Udeogu, and Slok Nigeria Limited are facing a 34-count charge of alleged N32.2 billion fraud.

    They were re-arraigned in October 2016 before Mr. Idris and they pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

  • How money recovered from allegedly corrupt Supreme Court judge reduced – Witness

    The sixth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Supreme Court judge, Sylvester Ngwuta, on Thursday attributed a N12,000 shortfall in money tendered as evidence in court to human error.

    When the matter was called, the witness informed the court that when the money was recovered in Abakaliki, it was counted manually and therefore the only way he could explain the shortfall was human error.

    “The money was counted manually and for human beings to manually count over N4.3 million, human error can be expected,” the witness said.

    It would be recalled that the trial judge, John Tsoho, had on Wednesday directed that the over N4 million tendered as exhibit by Ndakpoto be counted before it was admitted in evidence.

    Mr. Tsoho gave the directive after Mr. Ndakpoto tendered the money as evidence, and Kanu Agabi (SAN), counsel to Mr. Ngwuta noted the need for the money to be counted in order to confirm the figure stated by the witness.

    Mr. Tsoho further directed that the money be counted with the assistance of the accounts department of the court, in the presence of the prosecution, the defence and the registrar of the court.

    He agreed that it was necessary to count the money in order to confirm that the amount tendered corresponded with the amount stated by the witness.

    Mr. Ndakpoto, while giving evidence, told the court that the money was recovered in a house in Abakaliki following information received from one Linus Chukwuebuka.

    “Linus Chukwuebuka made revelations that necessitated our search of the house where we found documents relating to property and a bag containing the money.

    “Linus told me that Justice Ngwuta called him and asked him to go to his bedroom and remove the documents and the bag containing the money and hide them because if the `SSS’ should lay eyes on it, he will be in trouble.

    “He also told us that Ngwuta asked him to move some cars, a BMW, a Wrangler jeep and a Hummer jeep, and that he further asked him to disappear afterwards so that he will not be arrested,” the witness said.

    The judge adjourned the matter until Jan. 12 for cross examination of the witness by the defence team.

    It would be recalled that in May 2017, the State Security Service and the court disagreed over the amount of money tendered as exhibit by another prosecution witness, John Utazi.

    Mr. The money in question was said to have been recovered from the residence of Ngwuta by the SSS during a search on the residence on October 7, 2016.

    Justice Tsoho had said that he was informed that the Naira denomination in the court’s custody was different from the amount the witness called while giving evidence.

    “I am just receiving the information that there was a problem with the exhibit because the amount announced by the prosecution in respect to exhibit 11h should have been N35,358,000 million but when counted, it was N35,335,840 million.

    “So it doesn’t agree with what the witness said as there appears to be a shortfall.”

    The witness had however insisted that he counted the money meticulously and that he stood by the figure he had given.

     

    (NAN)

  • Jonathan seeks N1bn from Metuh as travelling expenses to testify in court

    Jonathan seeks N1bn from Metuh as travelling expenses to testify in court

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday requested that the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to set aside the subpoena ordering him to appear in court as a witness to testify in defence of a former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh.
    Jonathan, sought an alternative prayer, an order directing Metuh to deposit with the court for and on behalf of him (Jonathan) the sum of N1bn to cover travelling expenses for himself and his security personnel from his hometown, Otuoke in Bayelsa State, to Abuja.
    The money, according to the former President is also to cover the time that he may spend appearing before the court as President of Nigeria between 2010 to 2015.
    The former President contended that his request was in line, with the provisions of Section 241(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
    Following separate applications by Metuh, Justice Okon Abang had issued two separate subpoenas ordering Jonathan and the detained former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, to appear in court on Tuesday.
    Justice Abang had while ordering Jonathan to appear in court on Tuesday ordered the court bailiff to ensure the service of the subpoena on Jonathan within five days.
    Jonathan and Dasuki were summoned by the court upon applications by Metuh requesting that they are ordered to testify in his defence with respect to the sum of N400m which he was said to have received fraudulently from the Office of the NSA in 2014.
  • How Badeh’s wife, two sons escaped to U.S. – Witness

    How Badeh’s wife, two sons escaped to U.S. – Witness

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday heard how the wife of former Chief of Air Staff (COAS), Alex Badeh and his two sons escaped to the United States (U.S.) on learning that they were being investigated in relation to alleged fraud involving Badeh.

    A prosecution witness, Abubakar Madaki, who testified at the proceedings in the Bdeh’s trial, gave details of how the allegations against Badeh were investigated.

    Madaki, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was led in evidence by lead prosecuting lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), as the prosecution’s 18th witness.

    He gave Badeh’s wife’s name as Mary and his two sons as Alex Badeh (Jr) and Kam.

    He said his team of investigators was able to link some properties allegedly bought by Badeh through proxies to him from the movement of funds from the Nigerian Air Force’s account to the sellers.

    The witness said: “As of today, the subsequent buyers have not registered their interests.

    “Since the subsequent buyers have not registered their interests, as I earlier stated, we got the occupants of the property and those working on the projects, who took us to the final owners of the properties, because the properties have gone to three owners from the original owners.

    “It was the last owners of the properties that we traced the funds from the Nigerian Air Force to, via the agents.”

    He said Badeh’s wife and two of his children were being investigated for offences with which the ex-Chief of Air Staff, was charged.

    He said the three of them, however, escaped to the United States of America before investigation was concluded.

    He said all attempts to get them arrested turned out to be futile.

    At a point, the prosecuting lawyer, Jacobs sought the court’s permission to play a video recording of how the EFCC allegedly recovered $1 million on a property said to be owned Badeh in Abuja.

    When the court granted his request, Jacobs said he would bring another witness through whom he would play the video recording.

    Earlier, in a ruling, Justice Okon Abang admitted as exhibits title documents of a N650 million Abuja property sold by Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose to buyers from who Badeh allegedly bought the property.

    The trial resumes on November 1.