DIEZANI BRIBE: Court to watch bank video of ex-minister, lawyer accused of N450m fraud

A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday adjourned hearing of the alleged N450 million fraud case involving Dele Belgore (SAN) and Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, a former Minister of National Planning, to February 26, 2020.

The court presided by Justice Rilwan Aikawa made the adjournment at the instance of the defence to enable all the counsel in the matter to watch a video footage from the Fidelity Bank.

The defendants are standing trial on a five-count charge of conspiracy and possession of proceeds of crime to the tune of N450 million brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The defendants allegedly received the sum of N450m on March 27, 2015 out of the $115,010,000 paid into Fidelity Bank Plc by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, to influence the outcome of the 2015 presidential election.

The defendants also allegedly handled the huge sum without going through any financial institution, contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, February 5, 2020, counsel to the 1st defendant, F. O. Arifayan, informed the court that at the last adjourned date, all counsel in the matter converged on the courtroom to watch the footage of the events that took place in March 27, 2015 at Fidelity Bank, as instructed by the court.

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Arifayan, however, said that “after leaving the court premises, I got a call from the registrar saying that it was the wrong video that was played. The registrar said it was an old video from the bank that did not contain all the events that took place.”

He, therefore, asked for a short date to enable all the counsel in the matter to watch the video again before continuing the trial.

Justice Aikawa adjourned the matter to February 26, 2020 for continuation of hearing.

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