“I delivered $15.8 million in cash to Suswan at his residence,” the witness told the court

Abubakar Umar, the Sixth Prosecution Witness, PW6, in the trial of former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam has narrated before the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja and presided over by Justice Peter Lifu that in 2014, he converted the sum of N3.1 billion, transferred to him by Suswam as governor and delivered the equivalent of $15.8 million in cash to him at his residence in Maitama, Abuja.

Suswan, together with his then Commissioner for Finance, Omodachi Okolobia are facing 11 counts of money laundering worth N3.1 billion, which was part of the proceeds from the sale of state government shares held in his name by Benue. Investment and Property Company Limited, sold through Elixir Securities Limited and Elixir Investment Partners Limited.

During the hearing, the witness, a bureau de change operator and CEO of Fanffash Resources, who had been testifying on the matter since 2018, first, before Justice AR Mohammed and later Justice Okon Abang, revealed that a total of N3.1 billion was transferred to him by Suswam , through a gradual proxy with the first tranche of N413 million entering his account on August 8, 2014 and the remainder, coming in later to total N3.1 billion.

Umar, when led in evidence by the prosecutor, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, confirmed that the agent who carried out the transfer of naira to him was a woman.

According to the witness, he had to exchange the sum of N3.1 billion into dollars, which he said amounted to $15.8 million at a rate of N197 per dollar and send it to Suswam at his residence in Maitama, Abuja.

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“One day in 2014, when I was in office, the former governor of Benue State asked me to meet him at his house in Maitama, Abuja. I went and met him at home with a beautiful woman. He asked me to give the woman my account number. I gave the lady my Zenith Bank account number. The woman said she would send the money to the account.

“On August 8, 2014, N413 million was transferred into my account. Based on this, I called the former governor and he told me to convert the money to dollars and I asked him to give me time to do that. Three days after I bought the dollar equivalent, I called the former governor and told him the money was ready. He now asked me to take the money to his house in Maitama, near the Friday Mosque.

“I now told him that he had to tell the security officers at the gate that I was coming, otherwise they would not let me inside the gate. I took a taxi home, and after I arrived home, I knocked on the gate and the gate opened. I told them my name. They opened the first and second gates and I sat in the waiting room where he came and met me. I now spent what we both confirmed was the equivalent of N413 million. The exchange rate at that time was N197,” he said

Testifying further, he said, “On September 12, 2014, N637 million was transferred into my account. After N637 million was transferred to my account, after 40 minutes N363 million was also transferred to my account. On October 13, 2014, N630, 008.50, (Six Hundred and Thirty Million Eight Thousand and Fifty Naira) was also transferred into my account. On October 17, 2014 1,0068,000 (One Billion, Sixty Eight Million) was transferred to my account. It was the woman who was ordered by the former governor to make the transfer. The total money transferred to my account was N3 billion.”

The witness further revealed that he did not have any receipts for his transactions, nor did he have a notebook, stating that he purchased dollars from fellow retail traders and only recorded them based on his discretion.

Judge Lifu adjourned the case until October 4, 2024, to continue the trial.

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