A prosecution witness, Mustapha Gadanya, on Thursday told Justice Hussein Yusuf of the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, how seven accused persons conspired with banks to launder police pension funds.
The accused persons, Esai Dangabar, Atiku Kigo, Ahmed Wada, Veronica Onyegbula, Sani Zira, Uzoma Attang and Christian Madubuke, are standing trial for complicity in the over N24 billion scam in the police pension office.
Mr. Gadanya, whose evidence started on Wednesday, told the court while being led in evidence Thursday by the counsel to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Rotimi Jacobs, that the first accused, Esai Dangaba’s bank statement was obtained and analysed.
According to him, the analysis revealed that the bank statement did not reflect the investments as seen in the pay deposits advices recovered from the accused person’s office.
“The bank was helping accused to launder money. Funds were kept in the bank’s suspense account and later fixed, never entering his company account,” Mr. Gadanya told the court.
The witness further stated that a lot of funds discovered in the first accused account (close to a billion naira) had been withheld by the federal government.
“Investigations revealed that several hundreds of millions fixed as investment deposits made by the first accused person through his companies AMT Global Concept and Damule Nigeria Limited were made when he was a director in the Police Pension Office,” he said.
Documents in support of the claim were tendered in evidence and admitted by the court as exhibits.
Giving further details of the complicity of Mr. Dangabar in the matter, Mr. Gadanya said the accused was also discovered to be the managing director and the sole signatory of Damule Nigeria Limited, the company where he had his wife and two sons listed as directors.
The witness also named two properties located at Utako and Jabi which Dangabar bought worth hundreds of millions naira, one from a senator, in the name of his company Damule Nigeria Limited which he said had been forfeited temporarily to the federal government.
Justice Baba adjourned to March 17 and 18, 2016 for continuation of trial.
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