Tuesday, September 24, 2024

EFCC: The $6 Billion Alleged Mambila Project Fraud and How Former Minister of Power and Steel Agunloye Earned N5.2 Million Says Witness.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detailed the circumstances under which Olu Agunloye, the former Minister of Power and Steel, allegedly received N5.2 million in connection with the purported $6 billion Mambila Project fraud. During the trial on Monday, September 23, Adewale Agunbiade, a prosecuting witness, provided testimony before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo, Abuja. He described how the defendant purportedly obtained N5.2 million from Jide Sotirin Abiodun, an employee of Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd, through a series of transfers and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawals. The witness, who previously served as a Compliance Officer at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and is currently employed at Jaiz Bank Plc, explained during his examination-in-chief, led by prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, that in October 2022, GTB received an inquiry from the EFCC regarding the accounts of two clients, Mr. Olu Agunloye and Mr. Jide Sotirin. He stated that his team handled the requests on behalf of the bank, which prompted him to generate the account statements using the system available to him at that time. Additionally, he prepared a Certificate of Identification after reviewing the statements against the bank's records and co-signed the cover letter for the responses. Upon the identification and verification of the correspondence from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) regarding the specified accounts, which are designated as Exhibit 1a and 2a, along with the responses from GTB labeled as Exhibit 2a and 2b, it was stated, “On the second page of Exhibit 2b, there is the account statement for Jide Sotirin Abiodun, accompanied by the Certificate of Identification that I prepared based on the account statement. On September 10, 2019, there were six transactions recorded. The final five transactions consisted of ATM cash withdrawals of N30,000 (Thirty Thousand Naira) each. The last transaction on August 10, 2019, involved a transfer of N3,600,000.00 (Three Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira) from Sotirin Jide Abiodun to Olu Agunloy,” he elaborated. Additionally, he revealed that “As of October 22, 2019, a transfer of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) was made from Sotirin Jide Abiodun to Olu Agunloye. On November 13, 2019, a transfer of N1,121,000 (One Million One Hundred and Twenty-one Thousand Naira) was recorded from Leno in favor of Agunloye Olu from Jide Sotirin. Exhibit 1b pertains to the account opening documentation for Agunloye Olu. On August 10, 2019, there was an inward transfer of N3,600,000.00 (Three Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira) from Sotirin Jide Abiodun. On October 22, 2019, an inflow of N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) was noted from Sotirin Jide Abiodun. Furthermore, on November 13, 2019, an inflow of N1,121,000 (One Million One Hundred and Twenty-one Thousand Naira) was recorded in favor of Agunloye Olu from Jide Sotirin.” The proceedings have been postponed until October 21, 2024, for the purpose of cross-examination. Agunloye is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on seven counts related to official corruption and the fraudulent awarding of the Mambilla Power Project contract, amounting to $6 billion (Six Billion US Dollars) to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd.

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