 |
| Ochekpe |
WITNESS
TELLS COURT HOW OCHEKPE & CO COLLECTED N450M
By
Loving Yakubu
17 May,
2018
Mrs Annette Gyen, today, told Justice Musa
Kurna of Federal high Court Jos how Serah Ochekpe, the immediate past minister
of Water Resources, Raymond Dabo, Former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party,
(PDP) Plateau State Chapter and one Leo Sunday Jitong collected the sum of Four
Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N450m) from a commercial Bank in Jos in 2015.
Gyen, a senior staff in the said Bank is a principal
witness in a case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
against the trio on a matter bordering on money laundering of the said N450m
Contrary to Section 18(a), Section 16(1), (d) of the Money Laundering
(Prohibition) Act 2012 and Punishable under section 16(2) of the same Act.
The witness told the court under cross
examination by counsels to the Defendants, Sunday Oyawole Esq and Gyang Zi Esq
that while as head of operations Jos branch of the bank, she received
instructions from the Divisional Head of the Bank, sometime in March 2015 that
certain beneficiaries be paid in the Jos branch of the bank and she promptly
complied by withdrawing the sum of N450m from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
and effected the payment to the beneficiaries.
According to her, the process for the release
of the funds was in line with best practices and the receipt of the payment of
the said amount was acknowledged by the three accused persons who also signed
and write down their addresses, cell phone numbers and presented various forms
of identifications which included the Nigeria voter’s card.
The witness further told the court that the
Bank is a reputable commercial bank and a financial institution and that all
she did with regards to the payment of the sum of N450million to the accused
persons was done in her official capacity.
The matter was adjourned till tomorrow for
continuation of hearing.
Post a Comment