{"id":65857,"date":"2019-03-28T00:06:21","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T23:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=65857"},"modified":"2019-08-08T18:49:02","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T17:49:02","slug":"n3-6billion-fraud-efcc-begins-trial-of-former-nddc-director-of-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/n3-6billion-fraud-efcc-begins-trial-of-former-nddc-director-of-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"N3.6billion Fraud: EFCC Begins Trial of Former NDDC Director of Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday commenced<\/p>\n

\n
the trial of Tuoyo Omatsuli, a former Director of the Niger Delta
\nDevelopment Commission (NDDC), and three others over alleged N3.6billion
\nfraud at a Federal High Court in Lagos.<\/p>\n

On November 8, 2018, the anti-graft agency had docked Omatsuli alongside
\nDon Parker Properties Ltd, Francis Momoh and Building Associates Ltd
\nbefore Justice Saliu Saidu on a 45-count charge bordering on the alleged
\noffence.<\/p>\n

At Wednesday’s proceedings, EFCC called its first witness, Eyo Bassey
\nFrancis, a software developer and contractor. Led in evidence by Ekele
\nIheanacho, the EFCC counsel, the witness said he had executed contracts
\nfor the NDDC as well as Akwa Ibom, Imo and Abia state governments.<\/p>\n

He also narrated how huge sums of money were transferred to the account of
\ntwo of his companies by Omatsuli in 2014.<\/p>\n

He said: “In 2014, while as a contractor with NDDC, I came in contact with
\nMr. Tuoyo Omatsuli. In the course of our interaction, I told him that I
\nrun an online platform and I do a lot of imports. I also told him that
\nbecause of my engagement in import, I was able to source for foreign
\ncurrencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe later called me on phone and told me that some money will be
\ntransferred into my account. I got initial sum of N80million transferred
\ninto the Heritage Bank account of one of my companies, Asiladrrin Global
\nConsulting Ltd. I converted the money into dollars as directed by Mr.
\nTuoyo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis also disclosed that he had an inflow of N340million in two
\ntranches of N160million and N180million into the company’s account within
\nthe same period. He said he also converted the money into dollars and
\n“handed it over to Mr. Tuoyo, NDDC’s Executive Director of Finance and
\nAdministration, as well as the NDDC’s MD”.<\/p>\n

Speaking further, the witness said: “Sometime in January 2015, I also got
\na call from the 1st defendant (Mr. Tuoyo) telling me that I will be
\ngetting a payment from a company known as Building Associates. I later got
\nan inflow of N349,650,000 into the Heritage Bank account of my company,
\nCollege-Pro Synergy Ltd.<\/p>\n

“I was furnished with an account of a firm, Greenhouse Investment, owned
\nby the Special Assistant on Finance to the then NDDC’s MD to which I
\ntransferred N100million. The balance was converted to dollars as directed
\nby Mr. Tuoyo.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked by the prosecution lawyer whether he executed any contract for
\nBuilding Associates Ltd to warrant the transfer of the fund to his
\ncompany’s account, he said: “I did not execute any contract for Building
\nAssociate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under cross-examination by Professor Amuda Kehinde (SAN), Tuoyo’s lawyer,
\nthe witness said he did not transfer any money to the 1st defendant\u2019s
\naccount. He maintained that his oral testimony was part of the statement
\nhe wrote on August 14, 2017, for the EFCC.<\/p>\n

Further hearing in the trial continues on April 11, 2019.<\/p>\n

In the charge, Omatsuli is accused of procuring the third and fourth
\naccused (Momoh and Building Associates) to utilise a total sum of
\nN3.6billion paid by Starline Consultancy Services Ltd into an account
\noperated by the fourth accused.<\/p>\n

The prosecution said they ought to have known that the said sums, formed
\npart of the proceeds of unlawful activities, which include corruption and
\ngratification.<\/p>\n

The offences which were allegedly committed between August 2014 and
\nSeptember 2015 contravene the provisions of Sections 15(1), 15(2), 15(3)
\nand 18 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011, as amended by Act No
\n1 of 2012.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday commenced the trial of Tuoyo Omatsuli, a former Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and three others over alleged…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nN3.6billion Fraud: EFCC Begins Trial of Former NDDC Director of Projects - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/n3-6billion-fraud-efcc-begins-trial-of-former-nddc-director-of-projects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"N3.6billion Fraud: EFCC Begins Trial of Former NDDC Director of Projects - 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