N4.9bn Fraud: Ex-Finance Minister Gets Permission For US Trip

The Federal High Court in Lagos has  granted permission to a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman, to embark on a trip to the United States.

Justice Rilwan Aikawa ordered that Usman’s passport be released to her so she could embark on the trip.

The former minister, who is being tried for an alleged fraud of N4.9bn, had dropped her passport in the court’s custody as part of the conditions attached to the bail granted her.

Usman is facing 17 counts of money laundering and theft alongside a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode; one Danjuma Yusuf and a company, Joint Trust Dimensions Limited.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting them in connection with the campaign funding for the failed re-election bid of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.