A Federal High Court in Abuja has been told how $12 million was exchanged in cash transactions at SunTrust Bank within 10 days.
Naijaonpoint reports that a witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ciroma, gave the narration on Thursday while being led in evidence by Ekele Iheanacho, counsel to the anti-graft agency.
This was during the ongoing trial involving Halima Buba, the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of SunTrust Bank, and Innocent Mbagwu, the bank’s executive director and chief compliance officer.
While confirming that he knows Buba, Ciroma, a businessman and former bureau de change (BDC) operator, said he had never met Mbagwu in person—only spoken to him by phone.
The BDC operator revealed documents detailing how the $12 million was paid out at different branches of SunTrust Bank in Abuja and Lagos between March 10 and March 20, disclosing that the transaction began when Aisha Achimugu, a businesswoman, contacted him about conducting a forex exchange through the bank.
Ciroma said he called Buba, who confirmed she was aware of the arrangement, adding that on the same day a man named Iliya contacted him from the bank’s Abuja branch and said $1 million in cash was ready for collection.
According to NAIJAONPOINT , an associate of his collected the money on behalf of Ashrap Ltd, a company owned by his friend, Hassan Dantani, adding that on the same day, one Abdulkadir Mohammed picked up another $1 million, while a man identified as Kabiru collected $2 million—also in cash.
Ciroma told the court that the $12 million was converted and credited in tranches to Oceangate Energy Oil & Gas, a company he said is owned by Achimugu, through its Zenith Bank account.
On the purpose of the transaction, Ciroma said Achimugu told him she needed the funds to purchase an oil block.
He further testified that Buba coordinated the Abuja transactions while Mbagwu handled those in Lagos.
The EFCC lawyer also tendered WhatsApp chats between Ciroma and Buba, along with a certificate of identification.
Although Johnson Usman and M.S. Ibrahim, defence lawyers, objected to the admissibility of the documents, they deferred their arguments to the final written address.
The EFCC is prosecuting Buba and Mbagwu on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of $12 million.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Buba and Mbagwu facilitated the illegal cash movement of millions of dollars on different occasions without routing the transactions through any financial institution, in violation of Nigeria’s anti-money laundering laws.
The bank executives pleaded not guilty and met their bail conditions.