A Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled July 15 for the resumption of proceedings in the alleged money laundering trial of Ali Bello, the Chief of Staff to Kogi Governor, Usman Ododo, and one other.
Justice James Omotosho announced the date on Thursday after the prosecution’s sixth witness, Olom Otane Egoro (a staff of the Compliance Unit of a new generation bank) concluded giving evidence.
Bello is being tried with Dauda Suleiman on a 10-count money laundering charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/550/2022 brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
At Thursday’s hearing, Egoro was cross-examined by lawyers to the defendants – Abubakar Aliyu (SAN) and Olusegun Jolaawo (SAN).
Under cross-examination Aliyu, Egoro admitted that there was no lodgement or withdrawal linked to Bello in the account statement tendered as exhibits before him.
Egoro also agreed that staff of the bank’s Compliance Unit of the bank are not the ones that run and maintain the servers of the bank where information on bank transactions are generated from.
The witness explained that it was the duty of the bank’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department to manage the bank’s servers.
At the end of the cross-examination process, Justice Omotosho discharged Egoro as a witness and adjourned till July 15 for the continuation of trial, during which the prosecution is expected to call its seventh witness.
Egoro had, while giving evidence his evidence-in-chief, told the court that the EFCC, via a letter, requested for the bank statement of the Kogi State Government House, for the period of 2018 to 2021.
He said the commission also asked for other documents, including the account opening mandate for the account and certificate of compliance in respect of the printouts.
The witness subsequently taken through the statement of account by the prosecuting lawyer, during which he gave details of the various deposits made into, and withdrawals from same account via transfers and cash.
Egoro had said the withdrawals were N10 million each in different tranches.
The witness did not state who deposited the monies, what the monies were deposited for or who made the withdrawals and the purpose for which the monies were withdrawn.(The Nation)
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