Court docket discharges, acquits Fayose of ₦3.3bn fraud

Ayodele Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State has been acquitted and discharged of 11 counts of cash laundering and fraud involving ₦3.3 billion.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal Excessive Court docket in Lagos in a ruling delivered on Wednesday morning, upheld Fayose’s no-case submission, stating that the prosecution failed to determine a prima facie case in opposition to him.

“The prosecution failed to offer enough proof to warrant the defendant being known as upon to enter a defence,” the decide dominated.

Justice Aneke additionally held that the witnesses introduced by the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee (EFCC), in addition to the documentary proof tendered, weren’t sufficient to show the allegations past cheap doubt.

The EFCC had accused Fayose of receiving ₦1.8 billion in money from former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, in contravention of the Cash Laundering (Prohibition) Act, which prohibits money transactions exceeding legally permissible limits with out going by means of a monetary establishment.

The fee additional alleged that Fayose retained ₦300 million in his Zenith Bank account and took management of about ₦622 million, which he was stated to have recognized had been proceeds of crime.

He was additionally accused of directing two firms—De Privateer Ltd and Nonetheless Earth Ltd—to retain ₦851 million of their Zenith and FCMB accounts, respectively, understanding the funds had been derived from illegal actions.

Moreover, the EFCC claimed Fayose used about ₦1.6 billion to amass properties in Lagos and Abuja and one other ₦200 million to buy a property in Abuja within the title of his elder sister, Moji Oladeji—all allegedly linked to proceeds of crime.

The fees had been introduced underneath varied provisions of the Cash Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.

Fayose, nonetheless, persistently maintained his innocence and had pleaded not responsible to all costs.