EFCC has charged Mr. Onwuasonya Augustine to court for deliberately
swallowing $115,000 to avoid being charge with prove to officials of the
Nigeria Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
Augustine on Tuesday arrested with five others for the
offence of money laundering.
The anti-graft agency listed his alleged accomplices as –
Christian Okoli,
Kingsley Nwokenta, aka Buchito,
Nwokenta Emmanuel,
Ezenwa Ikenna
Ezenwa Uzoma.
The six were charged with four counts before Justice C.J. Aneke
of a Federal High Court in Lagos .
According to source
The EFCC prosecutor, Ayokunle Fayanju, alleged that
Onwuasonya and the others committed the offence on August 25, 2015 , adding that they were
apprehended at Room 303 of a five-star hotel in Lagos .
Fayanju said the men acted contrary to Section 18(a) of the
Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012, and
were liable to being punished under Section 2(5) of the same Act.
The sixth accused, Uzoma, was singularly charged with the
offence of obstructing an NDLEA official, Bello Tsanya, in the discharge of his
duty, which, according to Fayanju, is against the provisions of Section 22 of
the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012).
The prosecutor said Uzoma was liable to being punished under
the provisions of Section 22(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011
(as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012).
But when the charges were read to the six accused in court,
they all pleaded not guilty.
The prosecutor said, “In view of the plea of the accused, I
respectfully pray the honourable court for a trial date to enable us bring our
witnesses. However, I will also be praying that the accused persons be remanded
in prison pending trial.”
But the counsel for the 1st to 5th accused, Mr. Victor
Opara, told the court that he had filed bail applications on their behalf and
sought short adjournment for the hearing of the applications.
He, however, urged the judge to order the remand of the
accused in the EFCC custody pending the hearing of their bail applications,
rather than the prison custody.
Opara pointed out that the 2nd defendant had health
challenges, which were being treated while he was in the custody of the EFCC
and asked the court to remand him and the others in the EFCC custody so that
they could have easy access to treatment and lawyers.
But Fayanju urged the court to reject the prayer to remand the
accused in the EFCC custody, saying the commission’s detention facility was
overstretched.
Justice Aneke adjourned till December 11, 2015 , to take the bail applications of the
accused and ordered their remand at the Ikoyi Prison.
Source Oshodi
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