N190m fraud: Oronsaye operated secret bank account for FG's task force- EFCC
A witness with the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC), Ms. Ngunna Kakwagh yesterday told an Abuja High Court sitting at Maitama that former Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye, operated a ‘secret’ bank account for the Presidential Committee on the Financial Action Task Force in 2012. Earlier, Oronsaye was arraigned before Justice Olasunbo Goodluck on a fresh two-count charge bordering on fraud.
The Federal Government accused Oronsaye of compromising his position as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on the Financial Action Task Force in 2013 by illegally diverting N190m, being part of the N240m grant which the committee received from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He pleaded not guilty to the two counts when they were read to him yesterday.
After Oronsaye took his not guilty plea, the prosecution lawyer, Mr. O Uket, urged the court to remand the defendant pending the commencement of trial.
However, Oronsaye’s counsel, Mr. Joe Agi (SAN), opposed the prosecution’s request for adjournment, saying the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act, 2015 demands day to day trial after the arraignment of the accused person.
Consequently, the EFCC called its first witness, Ms. Kakwagh who testified before the court.
Giving a vivid account of how Oronsaye opened and operated the secret bank account for the Presidential Taskforce, Kakwagh disclosed that the former HoS opened the secret account with Access Bank Plc, adding that Oronsaye was the sole signatory to the account which he allegedly operated without the knowledge of any of the committee members.
“The account opening signature and documents were analysed. We found the account name was Presidential Committee while means of identification was later identified to be the international passport photograph of Oronsaye.
Post a Comment