The duo were sentenced by Justice Abubakar Mahmud Talba, to three years imprisonment for each of the two-count charge bordering on conspiracy, money laundering and attempted bribery to the tune of N50 Million.
The judgement followed an appeal filed by the Sokoto Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), against the judgement of the Federal High Court, Sokoto, which discharged and acquitted the accused persons on all three-count charge it earlier instituted against them.
Delivering a unanimous judgement of the appellate court on Friday, Justice Talba berated the respondents for trying to frustrate the appeal through manoeuvrings.
He said: “Gone are the days of technicalities in law” as he stated going forward, courts must allow cases to be heard on its merits.”NYSC Portal
Other Top Stories:
- BREAKING: Court freezes all Abia State Bank Accounts in 27 Banks
- Naira re-design useless — Ex-finance minister
- Naira redesign stabilised combats banditry – CBN
- IPOB protests in Aba, demand Kanu’s release
The judge explained that EFCC had proven counts one and two of its three counts charge before the Federal High Court beyond reasonable doubt.
“The respondents are charged with Conspiracy and making a cash payment above the threshold provided by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended in 2012 to Abdullahi Lawal (then zonal head of EFCC Sokoto) which was established beyond reasonable doubt before the lower Court. But surprisingly, the trial Judge somersaulted in his judgement and recanted.
“I regret to say that the judgement is like a fiction by the trial judge who created doubts in his mind while discharging his responsibilities. Without doubt, the trial judge grossly misconceived that no offence was committed.
“Conspiracy is a distinct offence even if the commission of the actual offence is aborted, and in the instant case, there exists positive cogent inescapable evidence the offence was committed”, he said.
The judge held that the appeal is “immensely meritorious”. Subsequently, he convicted and sentenced the Chinese nationals to three years on each of the two counts with an option of N10 million fine each on each count.JAMB Result
“Before I draw the curtain, the respondents are Chinese and an offence of this gravity in their home country attracts the death penalty, yet here they are corrupting our country. The courts of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will not condone corruption in any way; as President Muhammadu Buhari has said ‘if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria”, the judge said.
Check: JAMB Result
Check and Confirm: How much is Dollar to Naira
