Alleged N190m fraud: Ex-Hos, Oronsaye got N50m from Dasuki—EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday, narrated before an Abuja High Court at Maitama, how the former Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye got N50million from the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA.

Oronsaye

It said the fund which was allegedly released to Oronsaye by the detained former NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd, was part of the $2.1bn that was earmarked for procurement of arms but allegedly diverted.

EFCC made the disclosure on a day it re-arraigned the former HoS on an amended seven-count charge bordering on N190million fraud.

Shortly after Orosanye pleaded not guilty to the charge, an investigative officer with the anti-graft agency, Mr. Hammaadama Bello, mounted the witness box.

Bello who testified as the sixth prosecution witness, told the court that Oronsaye collected N50m from Dasuki in the name of the Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force, PCFATF, and made five “structured lodgements of N9m each” amounting to N45m into the Access Bank account.

The witness said Oronsaye made the structured lodgements in order to beat the anti-money laundering law and conceal the origin of the money.

He said, “We went back to the Access Bank account to also see the source of funding as well as pattern of the funding/lodgements. We realised that all credit entries, with the exception of a certain structured payments of N9m aggregating N45m, the other three lodgements 90m, 50m and N100m, came from CBN. At this point we became curious.

“We first investigated the structured lodgements and our finding was that the money came from the former NSA, Sambo Dasuki, and because I’m part of the Special Task Force that is investigating the arms deal, we have seen it in clear terms that the N50m was part of the arms scam money.

“The money was given to the defendant cash. But in an effort to disguise and conceal the amount that was received, the money was split to N9m, amounting to N45m and was paid into the Access Bank account.

“This was to circumvent the anti-money laundering rule of the bank and against the banking rules.”

“The defendant has also admitted to have received this money in cash and lodged same in the Access Bank account.

“Investigation at this point has been proved that the Access Bank account was only known to the defendant and the defendant alone.”

The witness said investigation that led to the charge against the defendant was prompted by a petition the commission received in 2015.

He said though the commission could not establish contact with the author of the petition, it still went ahead with the investigation.

The witness testified that his five-man investigative team headed by Ngunnan Kakwagh, who had earlier testified as the first prosecution witness, wrote letters to the Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and the CBN.

He said the responses obtained from the banks including the account opening packages and the statements of the Access and Zenith Bank accounts were analysed.

More so, the witness told the court that investigation revealed that while the Zenith Bank account was known to the committee and opened with conformity with laid down regulations, the Access Bank account was opened on behalf of the committee without getting the needed authorisation from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

“In analysing the account opening package of Zenith Bank, we realised a sharp difference between the two accounts.

“While the first account with Access Bank had a sole signatory, the second has two signatories – Mr. Stephen Oronsaye as Chairman of the committee, with his international passport attached and his phone number clearly stated.

“The defendant was tagged as Signatory A and Mr. Jalal Arabi was Signatory B and referred to as the secretary of the committee. Both are to sign, which means A cannot sign without B and B cannot without A Investigation revealed that that was the practice in all government accounts.

“On the other hand, Access Bank account had a signatory. Investigations have also revealed that such account are not to be run with only single signatory”, he added.

Earlier, the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Offem Uket, also led an Assistant Manager in the Marketing Department of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Musa Gulani in evidence.

Gulani insisted before the court that it was a must for any account opened by a government committee to have at least two signatories, among whom must include the chairman or secretary of the committee.

He said the PCFAFT’s account with Zenith Bank had since been closed and its balance transferred to the Treasury Single Account.

Oronsaye was first arraigned on March 15 on two counts of criminal breach of trust.

EFCC alleged that he used his position as the then Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force between 2013 and 2014 to convert the sum of N190m belonging to the committee to his personal use.

In the amended charge, the ex-HoS was accused of criminal breach of trust involving allegations that between 2013 and 2015 he converted the total sum of N382.9m belonging to the committee to his personal use.

EFCC alleged that Oronsaye sourced the sum of N382.9m from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the National Security Adviser in the name of the PCFATF and deposited it in a secret account with Access Bank Plc without the knowledge of other members of the committee.

The prosecution alleged that Oronsaye invested the money at nine per cent interest rate in the said secret account which he allegedly opened and operated unilaterally as the sole signatory unknown to other committee members.

It said the only account of the PCFATF known to all members of the committee and which Oronsaye and the then secretary to the committee, Mr. Jalal Arabi (now Permanent Secretary, Presidential State House) were its co-signatories was the one kept with Zenith Bank Plc.

Meanwhile, trial Justice Olasunbo Goodluck has adjourned further hearing on the matter till June 13.