EFCC Investigator Details How Ex-Air Chief Of Account Siphons NAF N12bn

An investigator with the economic and financial crime commission EFCC Tosin Owobo have told justice Chukwujeku Aneke of Federal high court Lagos how Air Marshal Jacob Bola Adigun, a former Chief of Accounts in Nigerian Air Force, used his companies to syphon the sum of N12bn from NAF intelligence account domiciled in Zenith bank account plc. Adigun is a second defendant in a N22.8bn fraud charge preferred against former chief of air staff Adesola Amosun

Amosu is being tried alongside two other officers of the Air Force – Air Vice Marshal Jacob

Adigun and Air Commodore Gbadebo Olugbenga.

The trio are standing trial alongside eight companies, namely: Delfina Oil and Gas Limited, Mcallan Oil and Gas Limited, Hebron Housing and Properties Company Limited,  Trapezites BDC, and Fonds and Pricey Limited.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, Owobo told the court that sequel to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) between the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigeria Air Force, the total sum of N3bn( Three Billion Naira) was paid into the NAF Special Emergency Operation Account domiciled with Zenith Bank Plc in three tranches of N1bn( One Billion Naira) on different occasions. Owobo further said the money was paid into Right Options Oil & Gas Limited, Judah Oil Limited, Delfina Oil & Gas, McAllan Oil & Gas Limited and Lebol Oil & Gas Limited. EFCC operatives He said:‘‘As part of the investigation, we invited the Managing Directors of Right Options Oil & Gas, Judah Oil & Gas and Lebol Oil & Gas Limited, who stated in their statements that they were Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and not oil dealers. ‘‘They said when the monies were paid into their accounts, they gave the dollar equivalents to the Account Officers of the NAF Special Emergency Operation Account for the second and third defendants. ‘‘They also stated that their companies were registered as Oil & Gas companies because they were given a high threshold of monies that could be transferred with fewer deductions.’’ Also, while giving further evidence on the account opening packages of Delfina Oil & Gas and McAllan Oil & Gas, Otobo told the court that the CAC documents that were used in opening the accounts bore Adigun’s name as director. According to Otobo, investigations further revealed that certain monies that did not originate from NIMASA were paid from other NAF accounts into the NAF Special Emergency Operation Account. The money, he said, was in turn paid into McAllan Oil & Gas Limited, Delfina Oil & Gas Limited and Trapezites BDC to the tune of about N15bn.

He explained that investigation revealed how these funds was used to acquire properties located Abuja, Ikoyi, Victoria Island and United kingdom respectively.

In the first count, the EFCC alleged that the accused conspired to covert a total sum of N21.4 billion property of the Nigerian Air Force which sum they reasonably ought to have known formed part of proceeds of a criminal breach of trust.

The anti-graft agency alleged that the accused persons diverted the sums using several companies.

The prosecution said the accused committed the offenses on March 5, 2014.

It said the offences contravened the provisions of Sections 15 and 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011

The three defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Justice Aneke adjourned the case until

Thursday 7th of March  for continuation of trial.

[06/03, 17:09] Mike Ojo: Alledge N650m fraud: judge dissimed application to recuse himself in Jumoke Akinjide’s fraud case

Justice Muslim Hassan sitting in Federal high court Lagos on Wednesday have dismissed the application filed in the ongoing trial of former minister of Capital teritary Oloye Jumoke Akinjide asking the judge to disqualified himself from hearing the Alledge N650m fraud levelled against her and two other defendants who are senator Adeseun and Mrs Olarewaju Otiti all PDP stallworth in Oyo state.

The application was filed by senator Adeseun through his lawyer Michael F. Lana alleging the judge of been bias and that he has onece work in EFCC as head of legal who sign charges before his elevation to the bench.

EFCC through it counsel Nneameka Omenwa however counter the allegations as unfounded and that justice Hassan was seconded to EFCC from the ministry of justice and that he has been recalled back to ministry before he was appointed as a judge.

Omenwa contends that the defendant who have benefited from this court by granting bail cannot turn round to Alledge bias.

Justice Hassan in his ruling state that the allegation constitute an abuse of judicial process and meritorious.

Consequently this application lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed.

Consequently the case was adjourned to 18th of April, 2019 for continuations of trial.

An EFCC investigator, Usman Zakari, had told the court last year on how the embattled former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Jumoke Akinjide, and others allegedly took delivery of N650m in March 2015.

The EFCC had preferred a fraud and money laundering charge of N650m against Akinjide and two others over the campaign money for the People’s Democratic Party in Oyo State.

According to Zakari who testified as the second prosecution witness in the case, Akinjide and two others collected the cash at a bank in Ibadan on the standing instruction of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Zakari said his investigation revealed that the N650m was part of N23bn which Diezani warehoused in the bank.

He said he found that the N23bn was the naira equivalent of $115.01m, which Diezani collected from three oil marketers and one Lano Adesanya in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.

Zakari, who was led in evidence by the EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, said his investigation followed “a top classified Category A intelligence” about a meeting convened by Diezani in her house in December 2014.

According to him, the meeting was attended by Diezani, the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, and some oil marketers.

The investigator said pursuant to the meeting, one Auctus Integrated Limited took $17.8m to the bank; another company, Northern Belt Oil and Gas, took $60m to the bank; while one Mid-Western Oil Services Limited also paid $9.5m.

But defendants denied all the allegations.