Alleged N450m fraud: I’ve no case to answer, says Belgore

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria , Mr . Dele Belgore , has filed a no - case submission in response to money laundering charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Belgore ’ s co - defendant, Prof . Abubakar Sulaiman, a former Minister of National Planning , filed a similar application , urging the court to discharge him and let him go .
Belgore and Sulaiman were accused of collecting a cash sum of N 450 m from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources in the build - up to the 2015 general elections.
They were accused of handling the huge sum without going through any financial institution , contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition ) Act .
Counsel for the EFCC , Mr . Rotimi Oyedepo , told the court that Belgore and Sulaiman acted contrary to sections 1 ( a ) , 16 ( d ) , 15 ( 2 ) ( d ) and 18 ( a ) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition ) ( Amendment ) Act , 2012 .
The duo were first arraigned on five counts on February 8 , 2017 before the Federal High Court in Lagos .
The EFCC subsequently amended the charges on two occasions , leading to the re - arraignment of the defendants .
The defendants pleaded not guilty on each occasion.

After calling two witnesses and tendering a number of exhibits , the EFCC closed its case against the defendants late last year , leaving the floor for them to open their defence .
Oyedepo said the anti - graft agency believed it had already established its allegations against Belgore and his co -defendant .
At the resumed proceedings on Tuesday , the defence counsel , Mr . Ebun Shofunde ( SAN ) and Olatunji Ayanlaja ( SAN ) , to the court that they had filed no - case submissions on behalf of their clients .
The trial judge , Justice Rilwan Aikawa , adjourned till February 15 , 2018 to hear the defendants out .
In the five charges , which were eventually increased to nine , the EFCC alleged that Belgore and Sulaiman laundered a sum of N 450 m .

It claimed that they received the N 450 from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources , Mrs . Diezani Alison - Madueke , on March 27 , 2015 , to allegedly compromise the 2015 general elections.

The anti - graft agency claimed that Sulaiman, a professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Abuja , and Belgore , a former governorship aspirant in Kwara State , ought to have known that the money constituted proceeds of unlawful activities .
It added that they handled the N 450 m in cash without going through a financial institution .

The EFCC claimed that the defendants paid N 10 m cash each to a Commissioner of Police , Garba Saliu , and a Resident Electoral Commissioner , Dr . Emmanuel Onuche.
They were also accused of paying N 50 m cash to one Sheriff Shagaya ; N 61 , 656 , 000 cash to one Isa Biu and N 87 , 962 , 000 to the duo of Sola Adeoti and Hajiya Farida Dankaka .

The EFCC said the cash payments were above the threshold stipulated by the Money Laundering ( Prohibition ) Act .
It said having handled the large cash sums without going through any financial institutions , Belgore and Sulaiman acted sections 1 ( a ) , 16 ( d ) , 15 ( 2 ) ( d ) and 18 ( a ) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition ) ( Amendment ) Act , 2012 .
The prosecution said they are liable to be punished under sections 15 ( 3 ) ( 4 ) , and 16 ( 2 ) ( b ) of the same Act .





Source:punchng