Alleged $12m Fraud: Witness Narrates Role of Sun Trust Bank MD, ED in Multi-million Dollar Cash Transfers

Halima Buba

By JUMOKE SANNI

The First Prosecution Witness, PW1, in the trial of Halima Buba and Innocent Mbagwu on Thursday, July 17, 2025 narrated before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja how the defendants routed multi-millions dollars in cash through him for transfers.

Both defendants, who are Managing Director/Chief Executive and Chief Compliance Officer of SunTrust Bank Ltd, respectively are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on a six-count charge, bordering on money laundering to the tune of $12 million.

The witness, a bureau de change operator while being led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, gave details of the multiple foreign exchange transactions that took place between him, the first defendants and Aisha Achimugu.

According to him, “Sometime in March 2025, I received a call from Aisha Achimugu that she has some forex transaction in Sun Trust Bank in Abuja and Lagos branches and I called the first defendant and she confirmed to me that she knows about the transaction. On the 13the of March 2025, I got a call from Iliya, a staff of Aisha Achimugu that he was in Sun Trust Bank Abuja for payment of the $1 million as a swap to be paid into Aisha Achimugu’s Ocean Gate Energy Oil and Gas account, domiciled in Zenith Bank, which I confirmed from the first defendant. I contacted my friend Hassan of Ashrof Energy, who sent Tijani for the collection of cash payment. On that same day, I also got a call from the first defendant that Aisha sent Iliya on the same day that he is at SunTrust Bank Wuse 2, Abuja and I contacted my friend Tirzi of Triple A, who sent Abdulkadir Mohammed to collect a cash payment of $1million. I also later sent Kabiru to receive a cash payment of $2 million for swap.”

Further in his testimony, he said, “Aisha Achimugu called me that she needed to buy an oil block and she will need dollar inflow into the Ocean Gate Energy Oil and Gas account in Zenith Bank. I got to know Aisha Achimugu sometime in 2021 through the first defendant and we met at SunTrust Bank.