Court Hears How Nwabuoku Allegedly Laundered N868m Through Shell Companies

A prosecution witness has told a Federal High Court in Abuja how former Acting Accountant General of the Federation, Chukwunyere Anamekwe Nwabuoku, allegedly laundered over N868 million through a network of shell companies while serving as Director of Finance and Accounts at the Federal Ministry of Defence.

Testifying before Justice James Omotosho, the ninth prosecution witness (PW9), Gudi Daniel Johnson—an investigator with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)—outlined how the defendant coordinated suspicious cash withdrawals and fund transfers into multiple private company accounts.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Nwabuoku on a nine-count amended charge of money laundering amounting to N868,465,000.

Led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, Johnson stated that the ICPC acted on an intelligence report from the Ministry of Defence involving companies such as Trans Afro Limited, Torch Global Limited, and Teemell Limited. Investigations showed that public funds were funneled from the Ministry into these companies’ bank accounts.

“We discovered that one Gideon Joseph was listed as a director in the companies. We couldn’t locate him at the registered addresses, so we turned to the Ministry. The Director of Accounts confirmed that he was acting under instructions from the defendant,” Johnson testified.

He added that other individuals summoned during the probe confirmed they were instructed to withdraw the funds deposited into these accounts and return the cash. When questioned, Nwabuoku claimed the funds were payments for security operations, which he described as classified.

In response, the ICPC wrote to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). A high-level committee comprising Gen. Monguno, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, and representatives from EFCC and ICPC was formed to probe the matter.

Johnson said the analysis revealed that shortly after the funds entered the Ministry’s accounts, they were withdrawn by Gideon Joseph and deposited into M. Daddy’s Ltd. Jerry Nwachukwu, a representative of the company, told investigators that N355 million was deposited under Nwabuoku’s instruction. The defendant admitted having a personal interest in N100 million of the funds.

Further findings revealed that N13 million was transferred to El Salen Ltd for a property, and N10 million was used to purchase a power generating set. Investigators also traced N150 million from M. Daddy’s Ltd to Quantum Zenith Ltd.

A N65 million property at City Gate Homes was linked to Nwabuoku, who failed to declare it to the Code of Conduct Bureau. “We informed him it was a proceed of crime and seized the property’s keys,” Johnson said.

Documents admitted as evidence included:

• Letters from ONSA dated January 18 and 20, 2022 (Exhibits PWJ and K),
• Remita response (Exhibit L),
• Code of Conduct Bureau’s response (Exhibit M),
• EFCC’s letter to the Bureau (Exhibit N),
• CAC report (Exhibit O),
• Letters from Zenith Bank (Exhibit PW R) and Access Bank (Exhibit PW S).

Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter to May 22 and 23 for the continuation of the hearing.