The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Lagos Zonal Command has called its first prosecution witness, Adeniyi Oyewole, Managing Director of Ano Farms Limited, against one Alhaji Usman Abubakar, who is on trial for an alleged N950m fraud before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos.
When he was originally arraigned on February 22, 2023, the defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the allegations.
Oyewole testified in evidence, led by prosecution lawyer Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, about how his paths intersected with the defendant’s, prompting him to part with the money.
Oyewole stated that the company processed agricultural products and will require foreign exchange at some point in the future to permit importation.
“In the process of that, we were introduced to Dr. Abu Fawaz, who lives in Ghana,” he explained.
“We went down to visit him. We got together and had a number of discussions and negotiations.
“I then returned with the total funds for the transaction.”
“It came to N950 million to get the equivalent in US dollars.”
He further testified that after raising the funds, he contacted Fawaz, who offered a First Bank account in Nigeria to accept the N950 million.
He claimed that the mentioned account belonged to the Young Alhaji Foundation.
“After the transfer, I reached out to Dr. Fawaz to confirm receipt on September 19th, 2022, but he got back to me in the evening that the funds had not been received,” he explained.
“I contacted my banker, who confirmed the funds in the account; I then contacted Dr. Fawaz again, who insisted that the funds were not there.”
The witness, who thought something was wrong, told the court that he immediately contacted his account manager at FCMB for assistance in retrieving the monies from First Bank.
He followed through on the request, as instructed by his account manager, by sending an email to the bank.
“They replied that the funds were received for the sale of a property purchased by the sender,” he explained.
He quickly responded, according to him, that it was not so, as reported by the proprietor of the recipient’s account, because he had never purchased any property.
He stated that after pressing for the recall, the recipient’s bank informed him that he would need to obtain a court order within 72 hours or else he would be denied access to the fund.
He told the judge that he immediately contacted his lawyer, who contacted the EFCC and also appeared in court.
“I also tried to reach out to the owner of the account (Young Alhaji Foundation) and inform him that the said fund in his account had been transferred to access FOREX and that we had yet to receive the said sum,” he claimed.
“He then told me that he was unaware of my transaction and that I should contact my accountant.” He stated that any payment given to him was for debt owing to him, and that the total amount owed him was $12 million. He said that the N950 million was a down payment, and that a significant organization with which he does business would send him $7 million in cash.”
He further claimed that Fawaz later confirmed to him that the money was received but that it had been blocked in the receiver’s account, and that his “bosses were angry” about the development and will not be proceeding with the transaction.
“I contacted Alhaji Usman Abubakar and pleaded with him that I would release the lien once I received the expected dollar equivalent,” he explained.
He told the court that he later learned from his lawyer that Alhaji Abubakar had taken First Bank to court in Abuja for denying him access to the fund, and that he was seeking the court to force the bank to release the money to him.
“I called him, and he confirmed,” he explained.
The witness testified in court that his lawyers afterwards petitioned the EFCC.
He defined the petition as a collection of documents that included a printout of the email correspondence, a printout of many WhatsApp discussions with both Fawaz and Abubakar, and a flash drive with phone calls with both Fawaz and Abubakar.
They were all admitted as Exhibits P through P2.
Following that, the first defendant’s attorney, Olatubosun Olanipekun, SAN, asked the court for an adjournment, claiming that he needed documents from his client, who could only meet his bail requirements on April 25th, 2023.
“With due respect, we have not had time to meet him, and I need documents from him to conduct the matter,” he explained.
G.C. Ugwulweze, counsel for the Young Alhaji Foundation, also requested an adjournment, claiming that he was new to the case.
“We were only briefed before the public holiday,” he explained.
The case has been rescheduled for June 13, 16, 19, and 23, 2023 for the continuation of the trial.
