The anti-graft agency tendered the cheques before Justice Rilwan Aikawa, on Thursday during the hearing of the alleged N4.9 billion fraud, at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has tendered as evidence 108 bank cheques used by Femi Fani-Kayode, the former Minister of Aviation, to allegedly launder money during the 2015 general election.
The anti-graft agency tendered the cheques before Justice Rilwan Aikawa, on Thursday during the hearing of the alleged N4.9 billion fraud, at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The bank cheques were alleged to have been used by Fani-Kayode, Nenadi Esther Usman, a former Minister of Finance and Danjuma Yusuf, one time Chairman of Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON, alongside a company, Joint Trust Dimensions Limited.
The trio and company are being accused of fraud to the tune of N4.9 billion, by the anti-graft agency.
They are specifically standing trial on a 17 counts charge of conspiracy, unlawful retention of proceeds of theft and money laundering.
Particularly, Fani-Kayode who held sway as the Director of Publicity of the former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign organisation for the 2015 election, was accused of conspiring with others to, directly and indirectly, retain various sums which the EFCC claimed they ought to have reasonably known were proceeds of crime.
According to one of the counts, Fani-Kayode and others were alleged to have conspired amongst themselves to, “indirectly retain the sum of N1,500, 000,000.00 which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: stealing.”
The defendants were equally accused by the EFCC of indirectly retaining N300m, N400m and N800m, all proceeds of corruption.
The former aviation minister was accused of directly using parts of the money at various times, including a N250,650,000.00, which he allegedly used between March 20 and 25, 2015.
The EFCC said he made cash transactions in the sum of N24m to one Olubode Oke, said to still be at large, on February 12, 2015 “to Paste Poster Co of 125, Lewis Street, Lagos Island.”
Fani-Kayode and Oke were said to have effected the transaction without going through any financial institution, an act the EFCC claimed was contrary to sections 1(a) and 16(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012, and punishable under Section 16(2)(b) of the same Act.
But the defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them by the Commission.
When the matter came up on Thursday, an investigator with the EFCC, Shuaibu Shehu, while being led-in-evidence by the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, tendered 108 bank cheques, which he told the court were recovered in the course of his investigation into the matter.
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