An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s witness, Mr Trinity Usman, on Friday, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that he received and transferred three million dollars into Mrs Aisha Achimugu’s company account.
Usman, the
2nd prosecution witness (PW-2), testified before Justice Emeka Nwite, led in
evidence by the EFCC’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN.
The PW-2, a
Bureau De Change operator, spoke in the ongoing trial of Halima Buba, Managing
Director of SunTrust Bank, and her co-defendant, Innocent Mbagwu, the Executive
Director/Chief Compliance Officer of the bank.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the duo are being prosecuted on money laundering offences to the tune of $12 million.
In a six-count charge, they were alleged to have aided high-value cash transactions without routing them through a financial institution.
The offence
is said to be contrary to Section 21(a), 2(1), and 9(1)(d) of the Money
Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and punishable under Section
19(2)(b) of the same Act.
The
defendants were, on June 13, arraigned by the anti-graft agency.
They, however,
pleaded not guilty to the counts and admitted to a N100 million bail with one
surety, each in like sum.
At the
resumed trial, the witness said he was in court to tell what he knew about the
transactions he had with Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, owned by
Achimugu.
Usman, who
said he was a businessman and general contractor, said he was also into agro
allied and oil business.
He said he
carried out the businesses with companies or registered names.
He said his
companies include Triple A and Tee Service Venture, T.M. Agro Allied Farm,
Triple A and D Oil and Gas Ltd, Triple A and Tee BDC Ltd, among others.
“Sometimes
in April 2025, one Suleiman Ciroma contacted me that he had a transaction that
he needed 3 million US dollars to be transferred to Oceangate Engineering Oil
& Gas Ltd.
“In that
particular time, I had the money in my Triple A and Tee Oil and Gas Nig Ltd
account.
“After we agreed with him, Suleiman Ciroma
gave me the dollar payment in cash.
“I paid him
the dollars into Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Ltd account,” he said.
He said the
payment was made in April 2025
“Can you
remember the exact date you made the payment?” Iheanacho asked.
“I made the
transfer in four tranches but I cannot remember the exact day,” the witness
responded.
However,
when the lawyer asked the witness if he knew Buba and Mbagwu, he said he did
not know them.
“Take a look
at the dock and tell the court if you know the defendants,” Iheanacho asked,
and the witness simply said, “No.”
Usman told
the court that he did the transactions with Triple A and Tee Oil Nig Ltd.
“It was from
there I transferred the dollars into Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Ltd,” he
said.
But when
Iheanacho asked the PW-2 if his BDC company, Triple A and Tee BDC Ltd, featured
in the transaction, counsel for the 1st defendant (Buba), Johnson Usman, SAN,
raised an objection.
The senior
lawyer argued that Iheanacho’s question was a ploy to give the witness tips on
what to say and the judge directed him to rephrase the question.
The witness
said that the licence of Triple A and Tee BDC Ltd, as at the time of the
transactions, had been suspended.
He said the
cash transactions from Ciroma were made through his staff.
He mentioned
the names of the staff as Abdulkadir Mohammed and Kabir Haruna.
The BDC
operator also said that he did an equal naira-to-dollar transaction with
Ciroma.
“The naira
was transferred into Triple A and Tee Service Venture Ltd Bank account.
“The naira
also was converted into dollars and I sent the equivalent into Oceangate
account,” he said.
However,
during cross-examination by Buba’s counsel, Usman SAN, the witness was asked to
confirm to the court that Triple A and Tee BDC Ltd had been in operation to
date, and he responded affirmatively.
“After they
suspended our licence, we proposed Triple A and Tee BDC Ltd to CBN last year
and we have an approval in principle with CBN,” the witness responded.
“Ciroma
Suleiman contacted you in these transactions because he knows you as a BDC
operator?” the lawyer asked, and the PW-2 responded affirmatively.
When Usman
asked the witness if it was on the basis of that knowledge that the PW-2 sent
his staff to collect the dollars from Ciroma, Iheanacho also objected to the
question.
The witness
admitted that he did not tell the defendants before the transactions that his
BDC license was suspended at any time.
He said his
oil company account was used for the transactions because it was the account he
had available dollars.
‘The choice
of using your oil and gas company account to transfer the dollars to Oceangate
was your own decision,” the lawyer asked, and the witness responded in the
affirmative.
Counsel to
the 2nd defendant (Mbagwu), M.S. Ibrahim, SAN, asked the witness if he made any
profit from the transactions, and he responded affirmatively.
“Did you
tell the defendants whom you have never seen or known before that you were
going to make an inflow payment from your oil and gas company’s account?”
Ibrahim asked, and the PW-2 said, “No.”
After the
cross-examination, the witness was discharged, and Justice Nwite adjourned the
matter until Dec. 10 and Dec. 11 for continuation of the trial.
Earlier on
Thursday, during the cross-examination of Suleiman Ciroma, the owner of
Funnacle BDC Ltd and the PW-I by Usman SAN, the witness said the reason
Achimugu requested the transfer of the money was that if she had deposited the
money in cash in the bank, she would not be able to transfer it.
Ciroma said
Trimizi Usman and Hassan Dantani, upon their representatives collecting the
money, in turn, transferred the dollar equivalent, “less their charges into a
designated account provided by Aisha Achimugu.”
He agreed
with Usman’s question that in a forex transaction, a transfer can only be made
from an account where the money came by way of inflow and not by cash deposit.
When the
lawyer asked Ciroma if Achimugu needed the dollar transfer to purchase her two
oil blocks, the PW-1 responded affirmatively.
The witness
told the court that he is a member of the BDC Traders Association, Wuse Zone 4
in Abuja.
He said that
was why when he made his statements to EFCC on April 14, April 11 and May 7,
the executive members of the association were with him at the time.
Ciroma, who
agreed that he was duly cautioned before writing the extra-judicial statements,
admitted that there was no part he informed the defendants, particularly Buba,
that his BDC licence had expired.
Also, while
being cross-examined by Ibrahim, who appeared for the 2nd defendant, Ciroma
agreed that he had never seen Mbagwu physically before.
He also
admitted that he had never produced any text or WhatsApp message between him
and Mbagwu before the court.
NAN
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