Money Laundering: Court Frees Fani-Kayode

Reprieve came the way of former minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode as Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday discharged and acquitted him of the money laundering charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In her judgment, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia held that the anti-graft agency failed to prove its case against Fani-Kayode beyond reasonable doubt.
The court also held that the prosecution team led by Festus Keyamo failed to prove the source of the money or that the former minister directed that the money be paid into his account.
She also declared that the prosecution failed to prove these elements, saying it was necessary for sufficient and unequivocal evidence to be put before the court as to how the monies were lodged in the accused person’s account.
The judge also dismissed the testimony of the 4th prosecution witness, Supo Agbaje as unreliable, vague and an afterthought as it contradicted his earlier statement to the EFCC.
The court identified two issues for determination, the first is that there was a cash deposit of a sum beyond the legal threshold and that the accused person accepted or authorised the payment of the sum into his account.
Though the court agreed with the prosecution that N1million and N1.1million were paid into the account of the accused persons, the giver of the money remained unclear.
“The prosecution has not been able to adduce any credible evidence before the court to convince it that the accused person gave the money to anybody to pay into his account.”
According to the court, in a case where the court was faced with contradictory evidence, the court must resolve the contradictions in favour of the accused person as the court could not pick and choose which of the evidence to believe.
Meanwhile, Fani-Kayode has described the case as a political persecution which almost destroyed his life and family.
In a statement he issued in Abuja after the judgment, Fani-Kayode said, “I am delighted, humbled and relieved by this verdict. In the last seven years, I have been subjected to the most malicious, vicious, sinister, well-orchestrated, insidious and devastating form of political persecution and wickedness.
“The whole process almost destroyed my life, my family, my reputation, my health and my career. I thank God for his goodness, his mercy and for the fact that today, the whole nightmare has finally come to an end.”