Ibrahim Mohammed Bashir V. Federal Republic Of Nigeria (2016)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

UWANI MUSA ABBA AJI, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court of justice, Kaduna State, holden at Kaduna in Case No. FHC/KD/24C/2008, delivered by Justice M.L. Shuaibu on 16/5/2008, wherein the Appellant was convicted as charged and sentenced to 12 months on counts 1 and 2 and to forfeit N300,000,000.00 (Three hundred million naira) being fine.

The charge against the Appellant at pages 1-2 of the records dated 8/4/2008 and filed on 9/4/2008 reads as follows:

CHARGE

That you Yusuf Nuhu, Ibrahim Mohammed Bashir, one HESHGOOD (AKA BUCKKY) (Now at Large) and one MASAUD (Now at Large) on or about the 5th of March 2007 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court conspired among yourselves to conceal the genuine origin and ownership of the sum of N300,000,000.00 (Three Hundred Million Naira) only which sum formed part of the funds illegally transferred from an Account in United Bank for Africa Plc and which sum you knew to be the proceeds of a crime or illegal Ad and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 17(a) of the Money

Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004 and punishable under Section 14(1) of the same Act.

COUNT TWO

That you Yusuf Nuhu and Ibrahim Mohammed Bashir on or about the 5th of March 2007 in Lagos within the Jurisdiction of the Federal High Court collaborated with one HESHGOOD (AM BUCKKY) (Now at Large) and one MASAUD (Now at Large) to conceal the genuine origin and ownership of the sum of N300,000,000.00 (Three Hundred Million Nain) only which sum formed part of the funds illegally transferred from and Account in United Bank for Africa Plc and which sum you knew to be the proceeds of a crime or illegal Act and thereby committed an offence contrary Section 14(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004 and punishable under Section 14(1) of the same Act.

COUNT THREE

That you Ibrahim Mohammed Bashir on or about the 5th of March 2007 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court did an illegal ad to wit: had possession of the sum of N300,000,000.00 (Three Hundred Million Naira) only which sum formed part of the funds illegally transferred from an Account in United Bank for Africa Plc and which

sum you knew to be the proceeds of a crime or illegal Act and thereby committed an offence contrary Section 16(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004 and punishable under Section 16 of the same Act.

The facts are that on the 6th day of March 2007, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (“the EFCC”), received a written petition from the United Bank for Africa Plc, wherein the bank complained that, three of its Manager’s cheques totalling the sum of N409,728,160.00 (Four hundred and nine million, seven hundred and twenty eight thousand, one hundred and sixty Naira) and which cheques, which were genuinely issued in favour of the Federal High Court, UBA Global Market and UBA Transcorp respectively were fraudulently liquidated or paid into some other customer’s accounts at the Karshi’s branch of the bank.

The Respondent specifically stated that, the Manager’s cheque with a monetary value of N311,000,000.00 (Three hundred and eleven million Naira) which was genuinely issued in favour of the Federal High Court was fraudulently liquidated into the account of a company called Ezeco Engineering Company and from which company’s account the

sum of N300,000,000.00 (Three hundred million Naira) was subsequently transferred into the Appellant’s account with the bank on the 5th day of March, 2007. It is on the basis of the transfer of the said sum of N300,000,000.00 (Three hundred million Naira) from the said company’s account into the Appellant’s account, that, the Appellant and one Yusuf Nuhu was arraigned before the lower Court in respect of the three count charge as hereinbefore stated. The said Yusuf Nuhu was discharged on the 2 count 1 and 2 of the charge vide a no case submission. The Appellant was convicted and sentenced by the trial Court on all the charges.