Malabu Oil deal violated money laundering laws – Witness tells court

Mr Temitope Erinomo, a prosecution witness, told the Federal High Court, Abuja on Thursday that Malabu Oil and Gas Limited and six other companies charged with fraud in the Oil Prospecting Lease 245 transactions, violated money-laundering laws.

Erinomo, is the Principal Compliance Officer at the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering in the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investments.

Testifying on Thursday as the first prosecution witness in the money laundering charge brought against Malabu Oil and Aliyu Abubakar, a businessman, Erinomo told the court that Malabu oil was registered as a consultancy firm.

Other defendants in the suit are A-Group Construction Company Limited, Rocky Top Resources Limited, Mega-Tech Engineering Limited, Novel Properties and Development Company Limited, imperial Union Limited and Carlin International Nigeria Limited.

The witness, who was led in evidence by Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) prosecuting counsel, Bala Sanga added that the other companies allegedly linked to Abubakar, were registered to carry out construction activities.

According to the witness, considering the status of the six firms as construction and consultancy firms, they are designated by the Ministry of Trade and Investments as Designated Non-Financial Institutions (DNFI).

He said that such firms were designated as DNFI in 2013 because of their high tendency of being used for money laundering.

The witness further explained that the DNFI firms were mandated by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act to, among others, be registered with the ministry.

He also said they were to submit statutory reports of their activities and declare qualified transactions to the ministry and the EFCC.

The witness also said that the firms were also required by law to put in place anti-money laundering measures, set up an internal audit to measure the effectiveness of the measures and appoint a compliance officer from the members of the management staff.

“We found out that these companies have not made any declaration to the ministry in compliance with the Act.

“We also found out that they do not submit their statutory reports to the ministry and the EFCC and have not made the declaration of their activities to the ministry.
“They do not have a record of measures they have taken to combat money laundering.

“They do not have an internal audit unit to measure the effectiveness of the measures they have taken to combat money laundering.

“They also do not carry out training for their staff on anti-money laundering measures and we have uncovered several transactions which were not reported to EFCC,” he said.

While being cross-examined by Mr J.A Achimugu, the witness said that he did not visit Malabu’s office or invite its staff, before arriving at his findings, because he was not mandated to do so.
The witness also tendered reports of his findings which were admitted in evidence.

The trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned the matter until Oct.27 for the continuation of cross-examination.

Abubakar and the other defendants are standing trial on 67 counts of money laundering involving about 800 million dollars instituted by the EFCC.