Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank, has continued his testimony on how funds were allegedly transferred from Kogi LGA accounts, in the trial of Yahaya Bello, former governor of the state.
Bello is facing trial at the federal high court in Abuja on a 19-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N80.2 billion.
Egoro appeared before the court on Thursday to explain how funds allegedly belonging to Kogi LGAs were traced to Fazab Business Enterprise and E-traders International Limited.
Led in evidence by Kemi Pinheiro, the prosecution counsel, Egoro told the court that on May 6, 2022, there were 11 inflows into the Fazab Business Enterprise account from different Kogi LGAs, including Yagba east, Yala, Ida, and Okene.
The prosecution counsel showed the statement of account of the company to the witness.
Asked to comment on the transactions made on May 9, 2022, the witness said there were two transactions on the day.
The compliance officer said the inflows came into the account from Ibaji and Dekina LGAs of Kogi state.
The witness said the total inflows into the company’s account on May 6, 2022, amounted to N103,375,059.73, while the two inflows on May 9, 2022, totalled N14,563,702.56, bringing the cumulative sum to N117,938,762.29.
Asked to identify the individual who made cash withdrawals for the inflows, the witness mentioned Yakubu Siyaka A.
He said Siyaka made cash withdrawals on several dates, namely May 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24 and 26, 2022.
The witness said the cash withdrawals made by Siyaka between May 9 and May 26, 2022, amounted to N116,600,000.
Asked if the entire inflows within the stipulated period were withdrawn, he responded in the affirmative.
The compliance officer told the court that by May 31, 2022, only a balance of about N1.08 million remained in the account of Fazab.
He added that between June and July 2022, there were consistent inflows from various Kogi LGAs to the company’s account.
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He said the total inflows for June 2022 was N108,793,086.69, while July 2022 recorded inflows of N141,718,056.30, bringing the total inflow for both months to N250,511,142.99.
He told the court that during the same period, Siyaka made cash withdrawals from the account.
He disclosed that the total cash withdrawals in June and July 2022 summed up to N198,900,000.
Asked if almost N200 million was withdrawn in cash from the inflows of the two months, the witness responded in the affirmative.
He added that similar credit and withdrawal patterns also took place in August, September, October, November, and December 2022.
“That is over N2.5 billion paid into the account of Fazab Business Enterprise from Kogi state local governments within eight months, from May to December 2022,” the witness was quoted in a statement by EFCC.
