By Correspondent in Abuja.
An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness, Suleiman Ciroma, on Friday,told a Federal High Court in Abuja that his company, Funnacle BDC Ltd, was duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), as he testified in the ongoing $12 million money laundering case involving top executives of SunTrust Bank.
Ciroma, a former Bureau De Change (BDC) operator, is the first prosecution witness (PW-1) in the trial of Halima Buba, Managing Director of SunTrust Bank, and Innocent Mbagwu, the bank’s Executive Director and Chief Compliance Officer.
Under cross-examination by Buba’s lawyer, Johnson Usman (SAN), Ciroma admitted that although he is no longer in the BDC business, adding that his company has not been officially wound up as required by the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and clarified that neither Buba nor Mbagwu had any directorship roles in Funnacle BDC.
The witness recounted meeting one Aisha Achimugu at SunTrust Bank in 2021, shortly after which she handed him $1.8 million in cash,delivered in tranches,for conversion into naira,confirming that he credited her with the naira equivalent.
However, Ciroma admitted that neither was present at SunTrust Bank’s Lagos branch on March 10, 13, 14, 20, or 24, nor was he at the Abuja branch on March 10.
But he admitted later invited by the EFCC around April 11 or 12 for questioning related to the transactions and was released the same day after making two to three statements, which were included in the court filings.
Tensions rose when Usman attempted to confront the witness with the contents of the EFCC charge sheet.
The prosecution, led by the EFCC counsel l,Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), objected to the move, arguimg that several pages of the charge, including investigation letters and witness statements, were inadmissible. He traced the development to the fact that they had not been certified by the appropriate EFCC officers, as required under Section 232 of the Evidence Act.
“The extra-judicial statements of witnesses can only be admitted if certified by the EFCC,” Oyedepo told the court, urging Justice Emeka Nwite to decline the admissibility of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the charge.
But Usman pushed back, insisting that the entire charge, having been filed by the prosecution itself and duly certified by the Federal High Court, was legally admissible. “They are trying to separate the charge sheet from its attachments, but that position is legally flawed. “Once a document is admitted, its attachments become part of it,”he said.
He accused the EFCC of playing a double game: “They filed the charge, yet they are the ones now objecting to its admissibility. You cannot blow hot and cold at the same time,”he added.
Justice Nwite reserved ruling on the matter and adjourned further proceedings to October 13, 16, and 17.
Our correspondent reports that earlier, the court rejected an attempt by Oyedepo to introduce a Hausa-language statement from the witness, ruling that the court cannot act as both adjudicator and translator, especially when the witness is not an expert.
The Reporters recalls that Buba and Mbagwu were arraigned by the EFCC on June 13 on a six-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering involving $12 million.
The anti-graft agency accuses them of facilitating high-value cash transactions without following proper banking procedures,a violation of Sections 21(a), 2(1), and 9(1)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, punishable under Section 19(2)(b).
Both accused pleaded not guilty and were granted bail in the sum of ₦100 million each, with one surety apiece.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
