COURT GRANTS FINTIRI BAIL
Federal
High Court in Abuja on Friday granted bail to a former Acting Governor of
Adamawa State, Umaru Fintiri, who was remanded in Kuje Prison on Thursday, in
the sum of N500m.
Justice
Ahmed Mohammed held that the bail should be guaranteed by two sureties in the
sum of N500m each.
This
followed Fintiri’s arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
on five counts of money laundering involving about N1.9bn alleged proceeds of
corruption.
The
EFCC had on Thursday arraigned Fintiri along Mayim Constructions and Properties
Limited (the second defendant).
Shortly
after Fintiri pleaded not guilty to the charges, Justice Mohammed heard his
bail application but remanded him in Kuje Prison to await the court’s ruling on
the bail application on Friday.
Ruling
on the bail application on Friday, Justice Ahmed dismissed the objection by the
prosecution to the bail application, noting that it failed to show reasonable
cause why the defendant should not be granted bail.
The
judge rejected the claim of the prosecution counsel, Mr. Peters Aso, who had
alleged that the accused would likely jump bail.
The
judge held that the claim by prosecution did not hold water as the defendant
did not jump the administrative bail granted him by the EFCC before his
arraignment.
Other
conditions attached to the bail included the seizure of his passport by the
court pending the period of his trial.
The
court also ordered that each of the two sureties to be produced by the
defendant must have proofs of ownership of property in Abuja.
The
sureties were also to deposit title deeds of the property with the court
alongside two recent passport photographs.
The
judge fixed October 6 for commencement of trial.
In the
charges numbered FHC/ABJ/CR/131/2016, and filed on June 16, 2016, the EFCC
alleged that the accused committed the money laundering offences between
October 2, 2014 and July 2015.
In
counts 1 and 2, Fintiri was accused of indirectly disguising the origin of a
sum of N220m (N80m and N120m) on October 2, 2014.
He was
said to have committed the offence in the two counts by transferring the sums
of money from account number 0313000301 with Ecobank Plc and operated by
Timeplex Nigeria Limited into another account-5742019591-domiciled with the
same bank and operated by Mayim Construction and Properties Limited.
The
prosecution alleged that Fintiri knew the sums of money to be part of proceeds
of an unlawful act of ‘bribery and corruption’, stating that the alleged
offences were contrary to section 15(2), (a) of the Money Laundering
(Prohibition) Act, 2012 and punishable under section 15(3) and (4) of the same
law.
He was
also accused of committing a similar offence in count 4 by indirectly
concealing the origin of the aggregate sum of N550m on October 9, 2016.
COURT GRANTS FINTIRI BAIL
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Saturday, July 02, 2016
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