A
Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday ordered the remand of a former Acting
Governor of Adamawa State, Umaru Fintiri, in Kuje prison, Abuja, over five
counts of money laundering charges involving about N1.9bn preferred against him
by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Justice
Ahmed Mohammed made the order after Fintiri pleaded not guilty to all the five
counts on Thursday.
The EFCC
arraigned Fintiri along with Mayim Constructions and Properties Limited
(the second defendant).
Shortly after Fintiri pleaded not
guilty to all the charges, the court heard his bail application but adjourned
till Friday to deliver its ruling on it.
Justice
Mohammed ordered that the former acting governor be remanded in Kuje prison
pending when the court would deliver ruling on the bail application on Friday.
In the charges numbered
FHC/ABJ/CR/131/2016, and filed on June 16, 2016, the EFCC alleged that the
accused committed the money laundering offences involving an aggregate sum of
about N1.9bn between October 2, 2014 and July 2015.
In counts 1 and 2 Fintiri was
accused of indirectly disguising the origin of total sum of N220m (N80m and
N120m) on October 2, 2014.
He was
said to have committed the offence in the two counts by transferring the
various sums of money from account number 0313000301 with Ecobank Plc and
operated by Timeplex Nigeria Limited into the account number 5742019591
domiciled with the same bank and operated by Mayim Construction and Properties
Limited.
The
prosecution alleged that Fintiri knew the sums of money to be part of proceeds
of an unlawful act of “bribery and corruption”, stating that the alleged
offences were contrary to section 15(2), (a) of the Money Laundering
(Prohibition) Act, 2012 and punishable under section 15(3) and (4) of the same
law.
He was
also accused of committing similar offence in Count 4 by indirectly concealing
the origin of the aggregate sum of N550m on October 9, 2016.
But in
the said count 4, the accused was said to have indirectly disguised the sum of
N550m through ”a term loan of 12 months” purportedly granted to him by
Ecobank Plc “for
the acquisition of a tea plantation farm from Nigeria Agricultural Bank in
Taraba State”.
The
former governor was said to have repaid the loan within three months while he
was the acting governor of Adamawa State.
In count
3, he was accused of making cash payment of N220m,
without going through a financial institution, for the purchase of Plot 7, Gana
Street, Maitama Abuja, sometimes in July 2015.
He was
said to have made the cash payment to one Hashim Dikko.
This was
said to have violated section 1(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act,
2012 and punishable under section 16(2)(b) of the same Act.
In count
5, he was accused of retaining in
his US Dollars account number 5742019601 domiciled with Ecobank Plc the total
sum of $4,830,000 (estimated at N970m at the then N200 to $1 official exchange
rate) on June 3, 2014.
The EFCC
alleged that the money was part of proceeds of unlawful act of corruption and
he thereby committed an offence under section 15(2), (a) of the Money
Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under
Section 15(3) and (4) of the same Act.
Labels: Court sends ex-Adamawa acting governor Umaru Fintiri to prison over corruption charges, Umaru Fintiri jailed
