Money laundering: FG tenders nine cash-filed boxes recovered from Justice Ngwuta
The Federal Government on Thursday tendered before a Federal High Court in Abuja nine bags and boxes filled with local and foreign currencies, all of which were allegedly recovered from a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, in October 2016.The items were said to have been recovered from Justice Ngwuta’s official residence in Abuja during a search operation conducted by men of the Department of State Service on October 7, 2016.
The Federal Government is prosecuting Justice Ngwuta on 13 counts, including passport fraud, money laundering allegations of retention and concealment of origin of the various sums of money contained in the nine bags and boxes.
The fifth prosecution witness, Mr. John Utazi, a Staff Officer of the DSS, had while opening his testimony on May 16, 2017, narrated how he led a team of other operatives to search Justice Ngwuta’s official residence in Abuja on October 7, 2016.
He narrated to the court how the search was carried out in the presence of Justice Ngwuta and huge sums of money in naira and foreingn currencies contained in bags and boxes were recovered at the end of the operation.
Continuing his testimony on Thursday, Utazi said the bags and boxes contained naira, United States dollars, British pounds sterling, euro, South African rands, United Arab Emirates dirham and Gambian dalasis.
The items brought to court on Thursday were opened in the course of the proceedings revealing the cash contained in them.
Out of the nine items, eight of them contained naira notes, which Utazi said totaled N35,358,000.
He said the ninth bag contained £25,915; $319,596 (USD); R50 (South African rands); €280 (euros); 380 ( dirhams); and 420 dalasis.Punch
