…As Witness Described Shagaya, Patience as Co- Conspirators
Justice
Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos,
on Friday, April 12, 2019, fixed May 9, 2019 to deliver judgment in an
application for final forfeiture filed by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, of the sums of$8,435,788.84 (about N3 billion)
and N9.2 billion (totalling about N12.2 billion), linked to Patience
Jonathan, wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The court
had, on April 19, 2018, ordered an interim forfeiture of the money,
following an ex-parte application filed by the EFCC against Patience and
some companies.
The companies named in the suit marked
FHC/L/CS/620/18 are: Globus Integrated Service Limited, Finchley Top
Homes Limited, AM-PM Global Network Limited, Pagmat Oil and Gas Limited
and Magel Resort Limited.
The money was said to be warehoused in
some banks, including Skye Bank Plc (now Polaris Bank Plc), Diamond Bank
Plc, Stabic-IBTC and First Bank Plc.
At today’s proceedings, two
prosecution witnesses, Orji Chukwuma and Oghare Ogbole, who are
investigators with the EFCC, deposed and adopted the affidavit showing
cause why the money forfeited in interim, should be finally forfeited to
the Federal Government.
When asked by the prosecution counsel,
Rotimi Oyedepo, to explain the details of his investigations and
findings into the alleged fraud, Chukwuma said the first respondent,
Jonathan, was a public servant with the Bayelsa State Government and a
Permanent Secretary between July 23, 2012, and October 2, 2014.
The
witness also informed the court that investigations revealed that, even
after the first respondent, Jonathan, had retired, she was still
receiving salaries up until May 12, 2018.
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