N805m money laundering charge: Finally, Senator Nwaoboshi in Prison
*Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, convicted for money laundering
(Nigeria) Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, representing Delta
North in the National Assembly,who has been on the run months after the Court
of Appeal Lagos Division convicted and sentenced him to seven years
imprisonment for money laundering, is finally in prison custody.
Nwaoboshi, who was intercepted
by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, at a
Hospital in Lagos on Monday, February 6, was finally remanded in Ikoyi
Custodial Centre today, February 8, 2023, to commence his prison term.
The Court of Appeal had in a judgment it
delivered on July 1, 2022, sentenced him to prison after it convicted him on a
two-count charge of money laundering and also ordered the winding up of his two
companies, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd, in
line with the provision of Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act
2021, and their properties forfeited to the Federal Government.
But the lawmaker who was not present in
court at the time of the ruling, went underground and refused to present
himself to the Nigerian Correctional Service. Instead, he proceeded to the
Supreme Court, praying the apex court to not only set it aside the judgment of
the appeal court but grant him bail, pending the determination of his appeal.
But in a unanimous decision on January 27,
2023, the apex court dismissed the application. In the lead judgement by
Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court wondered why Nwaoboshi, who refused to
submit himself to the law, would seek the indulgence of the law.
Justice Tijani Abubakar, in his
contribution, upbraided the Appellant for filing the bail application while on
the run.
“We must make it very, very clear to all
Nigerians that nobody is above the law. The government and the governed are
subject to the rule of law. And, we must ensure that there is respect for the
rule of law.”
The Court of Appeal judgement that
convicted Nwaoboshi followed an appeal by the EFCC against the judgment of
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Federal High Court in Lagos, which had on June
18, 2021, discharged and acquitted the lawmaker and his companies.
Nwaoboshi and his companies illegally
acquired a property named Guinea House, Marine Road, in Apapa, Lagos, for N805
million. Part of the money paid for the property was transferred by Suiming
Electrical Ltd on behalf of Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project
Ltd. The funds are believed to be proceeds of illicit activities of the
convict.
One of the counts reads: " That you, Peter Nwaoboshi and Golden
Touch Construction Projects
Limited, between May and June, 2014, within the jurisdiction of this court, did acquire a property
described as Guinea House, Marina Road,
Apapa, Lagos, for the sum of N805million, when you reasonably
ought to have known that the sum of N322 million out of the purchase price
transferred to the vendors by order of Suinming Electricals Limited formed part
of the proceeds of an unlawful activity
of fraud and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act of 2011(as amended) and punishable under Section (15)(3) of the same Act."
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