Aminu Sule Lamido, the 34-year- old son of Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for money laundering, has been convicted by Justice Fatu Riman of the Federal High Court, Kano. Aminu was arrested on December 11, 2012 at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport on his way to Egypt for failure to declare the $50,000 in his possession. He only declared $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). He is also to forfeit 25 per cent of the undeclared $40,000 found on him. In a statement yesterday, head of media, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, wrote that “Aminu Sule Lamido, on or about 11th day of December, 2012 at Mallam Aminu International Airport, Kano within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court while transporting in cash, the sum of $50,000 from Nigeria to Cairo, Egypt, falsely declared to the Nigeria Customs the sum of $ 10,000 instead of the said sum of $50,000 as required under Section 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap F34 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and Section 2(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 2(5) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011”. In the course of trial, which got underway on April 19, 2013, the prosecution called four witnesses and tendered documents which were admitted as exhibits. One of its witnesses, Sanusi Ahmed, who is an operative of the EFCC, told the court that the accused person only registered $ 10,000 in the Nigeria Customs Declaration Form only for a search to reveal that he had $50,000 on him. He identified the Customs Declaration Form when it was shown to him. The document was accepted by court as exhibit 1. The defence called two witnesses: the chief press secretary to the governor, Umar Kyare and the wife of the accused, Samira Aminu Sule. At the last adjourned date on July 9, the court reserved ruling for yesterday, after the parties had closed their cases and adopted their written addresses. While convicting the accused person, the trial judge held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 07:07:52 +0000