Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled October 16 for a ruling on whether Halima Buba, Managing Director of SunTrust Bank, can proceed with cross-examining a key prosecution witness in her ongoing money laundering trial.
The adjournment came after a heated courtroom exchange on Monday between the prosecution and defence teams, following an objection by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, to a line of questioning posed by Buba’s lawyer, Johnson Usman, SAN.
Usman had been cross-examining the first prosecution witness (PW1), Suleiman Ciroma — owner of Funnacle BDC Ltd — when he asked him to confirm the identities of individuals who allegedly collected U.S. dollars from Mrs Aisha Achimugu, Managing Director of Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Ltd.
Usman began by establishing that “Mr Hassan Dantani is the MD/CEO of Ashrap Energy Oil Ltd,” to which the witness responded in the affirmative. The defence counsel then followed up:
“Confirm that Trimisi Mohammed Usman who you referred to earlier in your evidence-in-chief, that he is the director of Triple A and D Nig Ltd.”
Ciroma again answered affirmatively, also confirming Trimisi’s role as a director in Triple A and D BDC Ltd.
Pushing further, Usman asked: “Confirm that Hassan Dantani of Ashrap BDC and Trimisi Mohammed Usman of Triple A and D BDC were those that collected the money (in USD) in this transaction from Aisha Achimugu.”
This prompted a swift objection from EFCC’s Oyedepo, who argued that the question was irrelevant and sought to introduce facts not contained in the charge.
“My lord, there are two separate legal entities that are involved or that had featured. They are Ashrap Energy Oil Services Ltd which is contained in the charge before your lordship and the Ashrap BDC now being introduced by the defence to the witness,” Oyedepo stated.
He insisted that although the name “Ashrap” appears in both entities, they are distinct companies, and the prosecution’s case specifically involved transactions by “Ashrap Energy and Oil Services Ltd.”
He further argued that the alleged offences revolved around high-value cash transactions that exceeded legal limits and bypassed financial institutions, citing relevant provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
“The core issue for determination in this case is that those transactions, which exceeded the legal threshold were conducted without going through financial institutions,” Oyedepo said.
“Furthermore, by the provision of that law, the financial institutions as defined not only limited to commercial banks but also extended to registered and licensed BDC firms regarded as authorised dealers.”
He accused the defence of attempting to mislead the witness and introduce new elements not at issue in the trial.
Usman, however, pushed back firmly: “The defendants, having pleaded not guilty, have shifted the burden of proof on the prosecution. In effect, they denied liability 100 per cent.”
Citing Sections 223 and 215(2) of the Evidence Act, Usman contended that cross-examination does not have to be limited strictly to matters raised during examination-in-chief.
“Though a cross-examination must relate to relevant facts,” he argued, “this needs not be confined to what the witness testified in his examination-in-chief.”
He noted that Ciroma, while testifying earlier, had already mentioned both Dantani and Trimisi as the individuals who collected the dollar cash from Achimugu:
“He said Dantani of Ashrap and Trimisi collected the USD and credited her (Achimugu’s) account with naira equivalent.”
Expressing surprise at the EFCC’s objection, Usman said: “Having regard to this, I humbly urge my lord to discountenance this objection. It is an objection attempting to muscle the defendants from defending themselves.”
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“I urge your lordship to direct the witness to answer my question.”
Justice Nwite subsequently adjourned the case to October 16 and 17 for a ruling on the objection and continuation of trial.
Halima Buba and Innocent Mbagwu, the Executive Director and Chief Compliance Officer of SunTrust Bank, are facing trial on allegations of laundering $12 million in cash transactions that were not routed through licensed financial institutions.
The EFCC alleges that the transactions were carried out in violation of Sections 21(a), 2(1), and 9(1)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, and are punishable under Section 19(2)(b).
The defendants were arraigned on June 13 on a six-count charge and pleaded not guilty. They were each granted N100 million bail with one surety in like sum.
