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| Mr Jide Omokore |
An official of Stanbic IBTC Plc, Mr. Adedayo
Adesanmi, told the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday that the accounts
of a businessman, Jide Omokore, with the bank and into which $1.6bn proceeds of
sales of the Federal Government’s crude oil were allegedly diverted, had been
closed as a result of “a worldwide freezing order.”
Adesanmi, who is a Senior Manager with the bank
and the Relationship Manager for the two companies’ accounts, disclosed this
while testifying as the fourth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of
Omokore and others before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is
prosecuting Omokore, his two companies, Atlantic Energy Brass Development
Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited, and others on nine
counts of criminal diversion of about $1.6bn alleged to be part of proceeds of
sales of petroleum products belonging to the Federal Government.
The other defendants are a former Managing
Director of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, Victor Briggs; a former
Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production of the NNPC, Abiye
Membere; and a former Manager, Planning and Commercial of the NNPC, David
Mbanefo.
Late last year, one of the counts in which the
name of the immediate-past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke, who was said to be Omokore’s ally was mentioned, was struck out
by the court following an application by the former minister’s lawyers.
Fielding questions from the lead prosecuting
counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), on Wednesday, Adesanmi had said each of the
Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts
Limited, had a naira and dollar accounts with Stanbic IBTC.
He explained to the court how the funds were paid
into separate dollar accounts of the two companies by Glencore, London.
However, the issue of the closing down of the
accounts was raised by a defence lawyer, Mr. Adeniyi Adegbonmire (SAN), while
cross-examining the witness.
Adesanmi answered in the affirmative when
Adegbonmire asked him if he knew that something “occurred in those accounts
that necessitated the accounts being closed.”
Answering further questions from the defence
lawyer, the witness said the payments into the accounts were “proceeds of sales
of crude oil,” but admitted that nothing on the statements of accounts
described the entries as such.
After the witness was cross-examined by the
defence lawyers, he was again re-examined by the prosecuting counsel, during
which he explained that the accounts of the companies were closed as a result
of a worldwide freezing order.
Adegbonmire had objected to the question
being asked on the grounds that it did not qualify as a re-examination question,
but the judge overruled him.
Responding to Jacobs’ question of why the
accounts were closed, the witness said, “The bank got a worldwide freezing
order. There were also negative press generated by the accounts and frequent
invitation from security agencies because of the accounts.”
Earlier, the prosecution had tendered the
statements of the four accounts and other relevant documents including the ones
dealing with the incorporation of the two companies, account opening packages
and instruction mandates authorising various transactions on the
accounts.
The documents were tendered and admitted as
exhibits by the court without any objection from the defence lawyers.
The witness gave a breakdown of how a total sum
of $563,983,556.53 was paid between the period of June 2013 and July 2014 into
the dollar account of the Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited, a firm
which he said was incorporated on February 5, 2013.
According to him, the first tranche of
$11,135,517.30 was paid into the account on June 14, 2013, barely four months
after the company was incorporated.
Reading from the account statement, he
said, “The period covered by the statement covers April 4, 2013 to September 3,
2015 (account statement range).
“There was no other entry before the beginning of
the range.
“The first entry on the account of the
Atlantic Energy Brass Development was on June 14, 2013 and it was a credit of
$11,135,517.30. The amount that entered the account was from Glencore, United
Kingdom.
“On July 11, 2013 there was an inflow of
$79,408,556. 24. On July 19, 2013 there was an inflow of $19,570,062.69.
There were other inflows from June 2013 to July 2014.”
At that point, Justice Dimgba noted that it was
unnecessary for the witness to read out the entries on the statement one after
the other as “the document speaks for itself.”
Taking his cue from the judge’s advice, Jacobs
asked Adesanmi to give only a summary of the entries into the account.
Responding to further questions, the witness
said, “Yes there were other inflows from Glencore, London. The total credit was
$563,983,556.53 between the period of June 2013 and July 2014.”
For Atlantic Drilling Concept Limited the witness
said, “There were entries of both debit and credit in the naira and dollar
accounts.”
Under cross-examination by a defence lawyer, Mr.
Lawal Rabana, Adesanmi said he made two statements to the EFCC, the second
being made on November 8, 2017.
He confirmed that it was correct that the
transactions as recorded by him in his statement to the EFCC “followed a normal
banking transaction.”
Under cross-examination by another defence
counsel, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), Adesanmi admitted that the bank had a money
laundering compliance officer and that the bank never had any cause to query
any of the accounts for money laundering activities before the charges against
the defendants were instituted.
The trial continues on Thursday (today). LR News
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