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In our review of high profile corruption trials today, Ayodele Festus an employees of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and five staff of First Bank Plc. were indicted in N8.2 billion fraud.
Also, Chidi Adabanya an ex-staff of Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, was arraigned alongside 11 others for N1.9 billion money laundering.
Read on:
Ayodele Festus – N8.2 billion fraud
Ayodele Festus is one of the three employees of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and five staff of First Bank Plc., who were arraigned on June 3rd, 2015, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), before a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, on a 28-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraud and stealing.
Ayodele Festus alongside other suspects: Kolawole Babalola; Olamiran Muniru Adeola and Toogun Kayode Phillip – (all Ex-CBN staff) and Isaq Akano; Ayodele Festus Adeyemi; Oyebamiji Akeem; Ayodeji Aleshe; Ajiwe Sunday Adegoke (all First Bank Staff) were docked before Justice A. O. Faji for defrauding the apex bank and First Bank of Nigeria Plc., of the sum of N8,265,100,356.22 ( Eight Billion, Two Hundred and Sixty Five Million, One Hundred Thousand, Three Hundred and Fifty Six Naira, Twenty-Two Kobo only).
Justice Olayiika Faji ordered the prosecuting counsel to respond to all the applications for bail by June 5, 2015 and by Monday 8 June, 2015, hearing will proceed on the bail applications.
He adjourned the matter to June 8, 2015, and ordered that the defendants be remanded in Agodi prison custody, Ibadan.
Their bail applications were denied on June 8, 2015, at the opening of the trial proceedings.
Also, Justice Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, on Friday, June 19, refused the bail application of Ayodele Festus and other persons standing trial for the CBN currency scam.
Justice Faji refused to admit the accused persons to bail despite the argument canvassed by their counsel that they will be available to face their trial.
In refusing them bail, Justice Faji noted that the evidence against the ten accused persons were weighty.
He (Ayodele) was later granted bail in 2018 alongside Ishaq Akano, Hakeem Ayodeji and Sunday Ajuwe .
In his ruling, Justice Faji held that the defendants had been languishing in Agodi Prison in Ibadan since 2015 because their counsel was unable to convince the court that they would not jump bail.
Trial of the case has commenced.
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Chidi Adabanya – N1.9 billion money laundering
The accused persons were alleged to have, between April and July, 2010, transferred various sums of money totaling about N1.9 billion from Forstech Technical Nigeria Limited in Stanbic IBTC Bank to Gastroil Venture Limited’s account with Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited.
According to the EFCC, it was an attempt to disguise the illicit origin of the fund which was alleged to be phony consultancy service charge for Shell to secure construction permit for the GbaranUbie project from the Bayelsa State Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The accused persons were on November 17, 2014, re-arraigned before Justice Ademola Adeniyi of the Federal High Court Abuja.
However, a Federal High Court in Lagos which was unaware of the criminal charge pending before a sister court in Abuja lifted the freeze order but the EFCC swiftly applied for the order to be reinstated.
The accused persons were rearraigned in January 2015.The matter started afresh before Justice Adeniyi sequel to the retirement of Justice Gladys Olotu.
The case is still pending.
Read also:
High profile corruption: Modu Sheriff blows the roof by allegedly stealing N300b Borno public fund
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[This Publication includes part of a compendium by Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) covering corruption cases as at 22nd of November, 2019.
