A prosecution witness, Elonna Ezelo, on Tuesday, told a Federal High Court in Lagos, that no formal report was made to any authority concerning the financial transactions of Femi Fani-Kayode.
Mr. Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister, is standing trial on an amended 40-count charge bordering on money laundering.
At the mention of the case on Tuesday, the prosecutor, Festus Keyamo, called on the second witness for the prosecution, Mr. Ezelo, a Legal Officer with the First City Monument Bank Plc (FCMB).
In his examination, the witness told the court that the accused first maintained an account with First Atlantic Bank Plc, which later transformed from First Inland Bank Plc, to Finbank Plc, and now FCMB.
He said that as a legal officer of the bank, he collated all statements of account of the accused which revealed several transactions involving cash, cheques, draft and transfers.
According to the witness, between July 2006 and January 2007, there were four deposit transactions captured in the accused’s statement of account as follows: N660,000, N6 million, N10. 9 million and N3.3 million.
Under cross examination by Defence Counsel, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), the witness told the court that no formal report was made by the bank to any authority, in relation to the statement of account of the accused.
He also told the court that the transactions in the statement of account of the accused, however, took place before he assumed office as legal officer of the bank.
He told the court that all his evidence in court was based on the information he retrieved from the computer in which the statement of account of the accused was stored.
Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia adjourned the case till March 19, for continuation of trial.
Mr. Fani-Kayode was first arraigned sometime in Dec. 2008, before Justice Ramat Mohammed on a 47-count charge.
He had pleaded not guilty to the charge and Justice Mohammed had granted him bail in the sum of N200 million, with two sureties in like sum.
He was again re-arraigned before Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako, following the transfer of Justice Mohammed from the Lagos Division.
The former minister was again re-arraigned before Justice Ajumogobia on Feb. 11, 2013, after the transfer of Murtala-Nyako.
Justice Ajumogobia is now the third judge presiding over the case in the last five years, while the charge now bears 40 counts, after the EFCC had dropped seven out of the original 47 counts.
In the charge, the accused was alleged to have transacted with funds exceeding the threshold allowed by the Money Laundering Act, without going through a financial institution.
He was alleged to have accepted cash payments in the tune of about N100 million while he was Minister of Aviation and Minister of Culture and Tourism, respectively.
The offence is said to have contravened provisions of Sections 15(1) (a) (b) (c) (d) and 15 (2) (a) (b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004.
(NAN)
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