A witness of the Commission of Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC), Offure Achille, on Tuesday, admitted that the name of Ali Bello, the head of Governor Usman Ododo's staff of the state of Kogi, did not appear in any of the bank transactions in the preferred money laundering trial against Bello and others by the Anti-Grotraft agency.
Achille, head of operations at the Access Bank branch between 2015 and 2023 in Lokoja, Kogi, told the Federal Superior Court in Abuja during the interrogation by Bello's lawyer, Abubakar Aliyu, San, who had no personal interest in the case, but agreed that she gave a testimony as part of her official assignment.
He also admitted that he gave evidence that there were transfers of funds from the accounts of local government areas (LGA) of the State in Fazab Business Enterprise, Hyzman and Ary Construction Limited.
When the lawyer asked him if he had something of any of the LGA, either as complaints that the payments made were fraudulent or not authorized, or to demonstrate that they were not for the services provided by the companies, the witness said: “He had nothing. There was nothing.”
Achille, who is the seventh witness of the Prosecutor's Office (PW-7), said that the housings of the funds in the e-commerce account were not in cash, admitting that she gave evidence that it was the remote cash of Fazab, Hyzman and Ary who were paid to the E-Caderos account.
“Is it correct that neither you nor any staff of the bank colluded with them to carry out any illegality,” Aliyu asked, and Achille responded affirmatively and told the court that the bank maintains the appropriate books of accounts of the organization.
When the lawyer asked the witness to take a look at Hyzman's account states and told the court if there were several retreats, he admitted that several retreats were made.
However, when Aliyu asked him to examine the account states to see if there was any corresponding housing of funds in the E-Caderos account between 2020 and 2022, the witness said there was none.
The lawyer also asked the witness to observe the Fazab account between 2020 and 2021 and tell the court about retreats and accommodations.
The PW-7 replied that, although there were withdrawals from the account, there was no accommodation in the account of electronic merchants.
He said that on August 2, 2021, the second defendant (ABBA ADAUDU) withdrew the sum of N300, 000 from the account, but on the same day, the sum of N30 million was housed in the E-Traders account.
She, however, agreed with the lawyer who, on the occasions when accommodations and withdrawals were made the same day, the amount paid was greater than the amount withdrawn.
“Of all these accommodations and withdrawals that passed since the last date and today, the name, Ali Bello, did not appear in any of this,” asked the lawyer and the witness responded affirmative.
When Aliyu began asking witnesses about the statements of the Ary account between 2017 and 2022, EFCC's lawyer, Rotimi heard, San, opposed, insisting that the bank's entries before the court only began since 2021.
However, Aliyu did not agree with Oyedepo, arguing that although he was carried out in chief, the witness made reference to the statements of accounts that had 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and that it was also his right to interrogate it based on his evidence.
The judge of first instance, Judge Obiora Egwuatu, who postponed the matter until July 1 and July 2 for the continuation of the trial, said the questions were “witness to answer whether the entrance is in the exhibition before her or not.”
Bello is being prosecuted for a position of 18 positions, which borders the alleged money laundering of around N3 billion that belong to the Kogi government and their local governments along with their coacked: Abba Adoudu, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenge, Iyada Sadat and Rashida Bello.
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