Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has transferred the case file of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the alleged money laundering against the immediate-past Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr Mele Kyari, to the registry of the court for reassignment.
He transferred the matter following an application by counsel to the EFCC, Ogechi Ujam, for more time to conclude the investigation, as the matter was before a vacation judge.
Justice Nwite had, on August 19, fixed the matter for a report of compliance following an order allowing the anti-graft agency to temporarily freeze four Jaiz Bank accounts linked to Kyari.
It said the accounts are owned by the suspect (Kyari), “who is currently being investigated in a case involving the offences of conspiracy, abuse of office and money laundering pending the conclusion of the investigation.”
It said the accounts include: Jaiz Bank account number: 0017922724 with account name: Mele Kyari; Jaiz Bank account number: 0018575055 with account name: Guwori Community Dev. Fund and Jaiz Bank account number: 0018575141 with account name: Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief, etc.
The anti-graft agency said the application was brought on three grounds, including that the bank accounts in respect of which the reliefs are sought are subject matters of investigation by the commission in relation to misappropriation of funds and criminal breach of trust.
It also said that the preliminary investigation conducted thus far revealed that the bank accounts are linked to the suspect, who took advantage of the complainant to be a contract facilitator and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities.
In the affidavit brought with the motion, Amin Abdullahi, an EFCC investigator attached to the Special Investigation (SIS) unit, said the agency received a petition dated April 24 and filed by Guardian of Democracy and Rule of Law against Kyari.
Abdullahi said he was a member of the team assigned to investigate the matter.
“Upon receipt of the petition referred to in Paragraph 4 above, my team carried out several investigation activities which included seeking and obtaining bank records from commercial Banks,” he said.
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