An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’ witness has failed to link Godwin Emefiele to accounts in Zenith Bank in the alleged property fraud case.
Emefiele, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is charged with property fraud, among other charges.
The property is located at Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and measures 150,462.86 SQM, comprising 753 housing units.
Emefiele and Eric Ocheme, at large, are also charged with unlawfully holding billions of naira in proxy accounts at Zenith Bank.
At the resumed hearing of the matter in an Abuja High Court, the first prosecution witness (PW1), Mshelia Arhyel, was taken in evidence by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.
He is a compliance officer at Zenith Bank, and he narrated how funds were received and deposited into the accounts of three companies.
The companies are MG Properties Limited, Ifedigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services.
The witness also mentioned the names of cash depositors and transfer recipients, such as Chukwuma Opara, Peters Adebayo, and Wilson.
Under cross-examination by Matthew Burkaa, SAN, Emefiele’s counsel, the witness told the court that he does not know the owner of the accounts.
When he was asked whether he was called to make a statement by the EFCC in respect of the accounts, he said no and that he never knew he was going to testify.
He, however, said he signed the certificate of compliance on May 29 and never knew it would be used as evidence.
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