A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) heard Tuesday how former Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF), Steven Oronsaye allegedly diverted N190million belonging to the Federal Government.
An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ngunnan Kakwagh told the court, while testifying as the first prosecution witness, that Oronsaye unilaterally operated an Access Bank account in the name of the Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force (PCFATF).
Kakwagh testified shortly after Oronsaye was arraigned on a fresh two-count charge in which he is accused of committing the alleged fraud on June 12, 2013 and December 30, 2014 using his position as the then Chairman of the PCFATF.
The witness said PCFATF existed between 2012 and 2014 and received payments from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the account without the knowledge of other members of the committee.
Kakwagh said Oronsaye received about N240m from the CBN through the account. She added that the defendant, in September 2013, also made “five structured payments” of N9m each, totalling N45m, into the account in one day.
The witness said Oronsaye invested N190m in fixed deposit and converted it along with the accrued interest into personal use.
Kakwagh, who was led in evidence by prosecution lawyer, O Uket, told the court that Oronsaye, as the sole-signatory to the account, equally issued cheques, in his name, to various individuals, who made withdrawals from the account.
The witness, who said she was part of the team that investigated the petition against Oronsaye, said:”The team analysed the documents provided by the bank. One of the accounts was named the Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force (Current account) and the sole signatory is Mr. Stephen Oronsaye – the defendant.
“The means of identification was the bio-data page of the international passport of the defendant. Further analysis of the statement of account (Access Bank), we found out that the account was opened in 2012 with the request from the defendant, to Access Bank, requesting that the account be opened, which he was the sole signatory as he chairman of presidential committee on FATF.
“The (investigative) team found out that the account had been funded by three transfers from the Central Bank of Nigeria and N45m deposited by the defendant. The first transfer was for N50m in October 2012 from CBN. The second transfer was for N90m in May 2013. Then in September 2013, the defendant made five structured payments of N9m making N45m.
“In 2014 however, the transfer of N100m was made into the account from CBN. The first N50m was withdrawn by a cheque. The defendant (Oronsaye) being sole signatory to the account, issued cheques, to various persons an in his name to make withdrawals from the account.
“N100m transfer was also paid into fixed deposit account. The sums of N30m, N10m and three separate sums of N20m each was also paid into fixed deposit all on the same day,” she said.
The witness told the court that PCFATF members and the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation denied knowledge of the Access Bank account and that the only account of the committee known to them was the one with the Zenith Bank Plc.
“We invited Jalal Arabi (staff of the State House and Secretary to the PCFATF). When asked about the Access Bank account, he stated that the committee had an account with Zenith Bank of which he is a co-signatory with the defendant (Oronsaye) and as such he had no knowledge of the Access Bank account.
“Mr. Francis Usani (as Head of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit,), also stated that as member of the committee, he was only aware of the committee’s account with Zenith Bank.
“The team wrote a letter to the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. On inquiry, it was realised that the committee had approval from the office of the Accountant-General of Federation for Zenith Bank account and was known to the office of the AGF. The team also made inquiry whether government agencies were allowed to move funds allocated to them, and if so how and where?
“Office of the AGF responded to our letter of inquiry, stating that the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation was unaware of Access Bank account of the committee and had not given any approval for the opening of the account. The reply also stated that government parastatals and agencies are only allowed to invest in treasury bills.”
The witness also told the court that Oronsaye made other 26 investments with the money in the Access Bank account. She added that 22 of the investments were liquidated by the defendant.
While being cross-examined by Oronsaye’s lawyer, Joe Agi (SAN) the witness said she did not inquire from the office of the AGF if it knew about the Zenith Bank account.
Justice Olasumbo Goodluck adjourned to April 13.
Justice Goodluck, before adjourning, rejected EFCC’s objection to Oronsaye’s bail application. She proceeded to grant Oronsaye bail at N10m with two sureties at N5m each.
The judge directed that the sureties must be resident in Abuja and must be serving or retired civil servant not below the level of a director in the federal civil service or its agencies.
Justice Goodluck directed that Oronsaye’s passport tendered before a Federal High Court in Abuja, in relation to another case, should be submitted to her court in the event that the trial at the Federal High Court was concluded before the one before her court.
No comments:
Post a Comment