Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed October 16 for ruling on whether the Managing Director of SunTrust Bank, Halima Buba, can cross-examine a witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on issues raised during his evidence-in-chief.
The judge adjourned the matter on Monday following an objection by Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, counsel to the EFCC, against a question posed by Johnson Usman, SAN, who is representing Buba in the ongoing money laundering trial.
Usman, during cross-examination of Suleiman Ciroma, owner of Funnacle BDC Ltd and the first prosecution witness (PW1), asked him to confirm the identities of individuals who collected the U.S. dollars from Mrs. Aisha Achimugu, Managing Director of Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Ltd.
Earlier, Ciroma confirmed that Hassan Dantani is the MD/CEO of Ashrap Energy Oil Ltd and that Trimisi Mohammed Usman is the director of both Triple A and D Nig. Ltd and Triple A and D BDC Ltd.
However, when Usman asked Ciroma to confirm that Dantani and Trimisi were the ones who collected the funds from Mrs. Achimugu, Oyedepo objected, arguing that the question was irrelevant to the facts in issue.
According to Oyedepo, the case before the court concerns Ashrap Energy Oil Services Ltd, not Ashrap BDC, which the defence introduced in the cross-examination. He stressed that although both entities share the name “Ashrap,” they are legally distinct, and the defence was attempting to introduce extraneous facts.
“The case of the prosecution is that the transactions, which exceeded the legal cash threshold, were conducted without passing through financial institutions, contrary to Sections 2(1), 19(1)(d), and 21(a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act,” Oyedepo stated.
He further argued that Bureau De Change operators, though recognised as authorised dealers, fall under the definition of financial institutions in the Act, and therefore, the defence’s line of questioning was misleading and irrelevant.
In response, Usman maintained that the prosecution’s objection was an attempt to prevent the defendants from fully defending themselves. Citing Sections 215(2) and 223 of the Evidence Act, he argued that cross-examination is not confined to issues raised in examination-in-chief, as long as it relates to relevant facts.
He also pointed out that Ciroma, during his evidence-in-chief, had already mentioned Dantani and Trimisi as those who collected the funds from Mrs. Achimugu, making the question valid and relevant.
“I urge my lord to overrule the objection and direct NAIJAONPOINT to answer the question,” Usman submitted.
Justice Nwite thereafter adjourned the case until October 16 and 17 for ruling and continuation of trial.
Buba and Innocent Mbagwu, Executive Director/Chief Compliance Officer of SunTrust Bank, are facing a six-count charge of money laundering to the tune of $12 million. They are accused of aiding high-value cash transactions without channeling them through a financial institution, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The defendants, who pleaded not guilty on June 13, were granted N100 million bail each, with one surety in like sum.