N500m scam: Court admits 2 PDP chieftains to bail of N50m each

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday admitted Clement Faboyede and Modupe Adetokunbo, chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to bail in the sum of N50 million each.

Faboyede, the Ondo State Chairman of the PDP, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on alleged N500 million laundering charge.

The EFCC arraigned Faboyede on June 29 alongside Adetokunbo, the Director-General of the party’s Campaign Organisation in the state, during the 2015 general elections.

On July 10, both the defence counsel, Mr Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) and prosecuting counsel, Mr Ekene Ihenacho, had respectively argued their application in favour and in opposition to the bails of the accused.

Justice Muslim Hassan had then reserved ruling on their submissions until Thursday.

Delivering his ruling on the resumed date, the court listed factors to be considered in deciding a bail application to include the nature of the charge, the severity of the punishment, and the likelihood of the accused committing further offences.

The court held that the sole issue for determination was whether or not, the accused were entitled to bail pending trial, bearing in mind that the essence of bail is to ensure their attendance for trial.

The judge then held that bail was deserving in the circumstances, and consequently, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N50 million each, with one surety each in like sum.

The court held that the sureties must either be federal or state civil servants, not below grade level 15, or must be landed property owners within the court’s jurisdiction.

The sureties were directed to deposit the title documents of the property and two passport photographs each, at the court’s registry, which must be verified.

The accused were also ordered to deposit their international passport at the court’s registry, while the prosecution was given a week to authenticate the documents submitted by the sureties.

The court subsequently, adjourned the case until Sept. 17 for trial.

The accused were said to have committed the offences on March 27, 2015.

They were said to have conspired to accept cash payment of the sum of N500 million, which exceeded the amount allowed by law, without going through any financial institution.

The offences contravened Sections 16, 16 (2) and 18 of the Money Laundering (prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No.1 of 2012).