A FEDERAL High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, has dismissed an application by a contractor to stop the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) from prosecuting him and his company in a 65-million-dollar money laundering case.
The contractor, Tarry Rufus, the chief executive of Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited, is being prosecuted by the ICPC with the former managing director/chief executive officer of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Gimba Kumo Ya’u, and the former executive director of FMBN, Bola Ogunsola, over an alleged diversion of $65 million meant for the development of 962 units of residential housing in the Kubwa district of Abuja.
This was disclosed in a statement on Monday, December 9, by the commission’s spokesperson, Demola Bakare.
The judge Yilwa H. Joseph held that the evidence before the court proved that a prima facie case of alleged misappropriation had been established through legal investigation and the court could not hinder the ICPC “from carrying out and performing its statutory duties.”
She noted the applicant’s suit of illegal detention did not hold water, as the court was not provided with evidence to prove so.
The court added that Rufus’ inability to “fulfil the bail conditions therefore, cannot be seen to have amounted to the breach of his fundamental rights by the ICPC and EFCC”.
ICPC had accused Rufus and his company, Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited, of giving and receiving $3.6 million of the contract sum in cash, in contravention of the Money Laundering Act.
“They were also suspected of having directly converted N991,399,255 into $3,550,000.00 and handing over the same to one Jason Rosamond in cash, contrary to Section 18(2) (b) and punishable under Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
“Rufus, however, in December 2023, filed an application in court to stop the ICPC and the EFCC from inviting or involving him in the case over the alleged $65 million fraud purportedly perpetrated by the ex-managing director of FMBN, Mr. Gimba Kumo Ya’u,” the ICPC stated.
According to the commission, the defendant argued in his application that he committed no infraction while executing the contract, asking that the court order both the ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to release all documents of the land title received for his administrative bail.
He further claimed in his application that his detention by ICPC during its investigation was unlawful and a violation of his fundamental rights.
He subsequently implored the court to award N500 million against the ICPC, EFCC, and FMBN “for initiating frivolous criminal persecution” against him.
The ICPC counsel, O.B. Odogun, argued that the statutory power of investigation vested in the commission through the Act that established it allowed the ICPC to examine petitions of alleged misappropriation diligently.
The ICPC further maintained that Rufus had voluntarily honoured the commission’s invitation to answer questions on suspicious cash flows from the account of Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited and that his inability to meet specified bail conditions was, in its entirety, his responsibility.
A reporter with the ICIR
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