By Muhammad Ibrahim
The trial of former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, over an alleged ₦110.4 billion fraud continued on Wednesday at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presenting additional bank records in evidence.
Bello is standing trial alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu on a 16-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering before Justice MaryAnne Anenih.
At the resumed hearing, the prosecution, led by Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), continued the cross-examination of the sixth prosecution witness (PW6), Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank. Under questioning by defence counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), the witness explained that the “description” column in Exhibit S1, a statement of account earlier admitted in evidence, reflected transaction details.
PW6 cited entries including a ₦10 million cheque issued to Hudu on January 20, 2016, and another cheque payment of ₦2,454,400 to Halims Hotels and Tours, Lokoja, but stated that he did not know the purpose for which the funds were used.
The witness also testified on Exhibit X1, identified as the account opening documents of a company account domiciled at Zenith Bank’s Lokoja branch. He highlighted several inflows and outflows in December 2016, including a ₦74.37 million credit from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service and a ₦10 million cheque issued to Mohammed Jami’u Sallau.
The EFCC further called PW8, Gabriel Ocha, a compliance officer with First City Monument Bank (FCMB), who tendered bank documents relating to Kunfayakun Global Limited covering transactions between 2018 and 2024.
He told the court that the records included a ₦30 million debit to the American International School, as well as several ₦10 million web transfers and NIBSS inflows on November 1, 2021.
Another prosecution witness, PW9, A.D. Ojoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank, also tendered the statement of account of Bespoke Business Solutions Limited. He identified multiple large credit entries, including payments from the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service amounting to hundreds of millions of naira in 2019.
