EFCC Investigator Explains How Fani-Kayode Diverts N350m In Alleged N4.9bn Fraud Suit

An operative of the Economic and financial crime commission EFCC Shuaibu Shahu told justice Rilwan Aikawa sitting in Federal high court Lagos on Wednesday how the embattled former aviation minister and campaign director of Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan Mr.  Femi Fani -kayode received the sum of three hundred and fifty million Naira from the ministry of External affairs through his Zenith bank account without executing any project or render any service to the ministry.

 

 

 

Led in evidence by EFCC counsel Mr Rotimi, Shuaibu stated that the sum of #800m was transferred from ministry of External affairs to a company called Joint Trust Dimension Ltd. Without executing any contract on the 16th of January, 2015.

 

 

Shuaibu said that Joint Trust Dimension was used to to divert the funds by the the defendants without any service rendered to the ministry.

 

 

He tendered various  Zenith Bank cheques that was used for the alleged fraud recovered in the cause of investigation.

 

 

In a bid to tendered another set of 115 zenith bank cheques used by Fani kayode for withdrawals in the alleged fraud was objected to by his counsel Norrison Quakers SAN and sought for an adjournment till tomorrow to enabled him check of the  proof of evidence served on his client contain those cheques.

 

 

 

Consequently justice Aikawa adjourned further proceeding till Thursday 21th of February.

 

 

 

 

The first defendant in the case is a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman; Fani-Kayode is the second defendant while one Danjuma Yusuf and a company, Joint Trust Dimensions Limited, were listed as the third and fourth defendants, respectively.

 

 

The defendants are facing 17 counts bordering on conspiracy, unlawful retention of proceeds of theft and money laundering.

 

Fani-Kayode, who was the Director of Publicity of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential campaign organisation for the 2015 election, was accused of conspiring with the others to, directly and indirectly, retain various sums which the EFCC claimed they ought to have reasonably known were proceeds of crime.

 

In one of the counts, the defendants were accused of conspiring among themselves to “indirectly retain the sum of N1,500, 000,000.00 which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: stealing.”

 

The four were also accused of indirectly retaining N300m, N400m and N800m, all proceeds of corruption, according to EFCC.

 

Fani-Kayode was accused of directly using parts of the money at various times, including a N250,650,000.00, which he allegedly used between March 20 and 25, 2015.

 

Fani-Kayode was also accused of making a cash transaction of N24m with one Olubode Oke, said to still be at large, on February 12, 2015 “to Paste Poster Co of 125, Lewis Street, Lagos Island.”

 

 

The duo were said to have made the transaction without going through any financial institution, an act the EFCC claimed was contrary to sections 1(a) and 16(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012, and punishable under Section 16(2)(b) of the same Act.

 

 

The defendants have pleaded not guilty

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