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A prosecution witness said Wednesday that his company’s bank account received N860 million from the Anambra State Government during Governor Willie Obiano’s administration without his knowledge.
Udochukwu Okparache testified in the ongoing trial of the former governor at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
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In January 2024, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the EFCC charged the former governor with nine counts of misappropriating over N4 billion from the state’s security vote accounts.
The charges include bypassing financial institutions in several unlawful cash transactions involving money allegedly stolen from the state’s account.
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Mr Obiano denied the charges.
According to a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the prosecuting agency, Mr Okparache, a general contractor and owner of Youdooh Ventures Limited – one of the companies Mr Obiano was accused of using for money laundering – testified on Wednesday in the the former governor’s trial as the 10th prosecution witness.
Led in evidence by EFCC’s prosecuting lawyer, Tahir Sylvanus, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on Wednesday, the witness said his company’s bank account rreceived the N860 million payment from the Anambra State Government in tranches without bidding for any contract.
He named Eberechi Obiano, Mr Obiano”s wife, as one of the beneficiaries of the suspicious deposit in his company’s account.
He said, “The transactions that were done in that account were through Manager’s cheques, which was about N60 million but N860 million was the total amount that passed through my account, which Cherish Ventures Limited, Chief Mrs Eberechi Willie Obiano, Easy Demands Limited and so many others companies benefited from the transactions. I did not bid for any contract with the Anambra State government.”
Denying prior knowledge of the deposit by the Anambra State Government, the witness told the court that he only discovered the transaction after being summoned by the EFCC in April 2023.
He said on enquiry from the bank, his account officer told him that the transactions carried out to boost his account status to enable him meet the requirements of travelling abroad.
Mr Okparache said it was then he discovered that the funds were deposited in tranches.
While analysing Exhibit PW3 A1-A5, the statement account of his company, particularly pages 119 to 145, the witness confirmed that the suspicious N860 million was transferred into his account in tranches.
He explained that N18 million was paid on 5 April 2018 and N9 million on the same date.
According to him, further payment was made into his account on 11 April 2018, while N7 million was transferred to Mrs Obiano.
During cross-examination by defence lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, a SAN, the witness said the reason he did not report to the bank when he noticed the transactions was that he wanted his account to be boosted. He also denied knowing the defendant stressing that he didn’t know if it was the defendant that authorized all the transactions.
Trial judge Intang Ekwo adjourned the matter till 26, 27 and 28 May for continuation of trial.
Background
Mr Obiano was Anambra’s State governor from 2014 to 2022.
The EFCC had accused him of diverting funds through companies that had no connection with the Anambra State Government. The funds were then converted to funds and given to Mr Obiano in dollar cash.
Mr Obiano was accused of transferring the funds into several companies.
According to the EFCC, over N2 million was transferred to Connaught International Services Limited, N95 Million to S.Y. Panda Enterprises, over N400 million to Zirga Zirga Trading Company Limited and more than N1 billion to Moment of Peace Ventures.
According to the prosecution, over N800 million went to Youdooh Ventures, while Nazdal Ventures received over N650 million.
Also, C.I Patty Ventures Nigeria Limited allegedly received over N150 million, while Easy Diamond integrated Link and Xpress Consult Nig. Limited received over N260 million and N120 million respectively.
Witness testimonies
This newspaper also reported how two witnesses, including a branch manager of Fidelity Bank, Tochukwu Nnadi, and an Onitsha-based businesswoman, Chinwe Patricia Egbunam, earlier testified in the case.
Ms Egbunam, owner of C.I Patty Ventures Nigeria Limited, testified about the transfer of over N150 million to her company’s account. She denied knowledge of the source of the money. She told the court that her account officer upgraded her account to enable her to travel to Turkey.
The second witness, Mr Nnadi acknowledged the transfer of funds to Moment of Peace Ventures, Easy Diamond Integrated Links and Nasda Ventures.
PREaMIUM TIMES also reported how a witness, Andrew Ali, testified against the former governor, accusing him of using three unlicensed companies to carry out Bureau De Change (BDC) business.
