We complied with the law on Bobrisky’s money laundering charges – EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday informed the Committee of the House of Representatives looking into allegations of corruption against some of the Commission’s officers that the money laundering charges that were dropped in the trial of Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, were legal and compliant with the law.

Bilikisu Bala, the head of the prosecution team that handled Okuneye’s trial, told the Committee that the charges were dropped after the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, disclosed that Okunenye’s company, Bob Express, could not be prosecuted for violating the Money Laundering Prevention & Prohibition Act, 2022 as it was not a Designated Non Financial Institution, Business and Profession, (DNFIBP).

“We initially raised six count charges bordering on Naira Abuse and Money Laundering against Okuneye based on his confessional statement that his firm, Bob Express, was not registered with SCUML and was not rendering returns to it. Counts 1-4 were on Naira Abuse while counts five and six were on money laundering. Okuneye’s confession that he didn’t register his firm, Bob Express with SCUML and not rendering returns to it informed the money laundering charges initially included in the six count charges. However, when we wrote to SCUML on the status of the firm, the Unit responded that it was not a Designated Non-Financial Institution, Business and Profession, DNFIBP. We cannot lawfully sustain the charges in all sincerity. We, therefore dropped them and relied on the four counts on Naira mutilation to which Okuneye had pleaded guilty”, she said.

The prosecutor dismissed claims of financial inducement in dropping charges maintaining that no such thing happened. “There is simply no basis for that. The Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, allows amendment of charges. It is a professional practice. It is laughable for anyone to attribute our decision to monetary issues. Why did we write to SCUML if we didn’t want to include the charges? We wrote to be lawfully guided and when the Unit responded that the firm had not breached any law, on what basis should we have retained the money laundering charges?”, she said.

Chief of Staff to the EFCC’s Chairman, Michael Nzekwe who represented the Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said, the EFCC “viewed the allegation of bribery against our officers seriously. Integrity is one of our core values. This is why we are here to place all the facts involved in the trial of Okuneye in the public domain”.

In a widely shared video, Okuneye claimed to have paid some unidentified EFCC officers N15,000,000 (fifteen million naira) to withdraw their money laundering allegations against him.