Lagos  Monday, 18 February 2013 00:00

http://www.tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/component/k2/item/5516-n27-3m-money-laundering-trial-of-ikuforiji-aide-continues-today

TRIAL of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, over allegation of money laundering instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will today continue before a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The speaker, alongside his Personal Assistant, Alade Atoyebi, is facing a 20-count charge on money laundering in the sum of N273.3 million.

The duo were alleged by the anti-graft agency to have conspired between April 2010 and July, 2011 to commit an illegal act of accepting cash payments amounting to N273.3 million from the Lagos State House of Assembly without going through a financial institution.

The speaker was alleged to have misappropriated around N500 million of the House’s funds, an offence which the EFCC said contravened Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011.

During the last sitting before Justice Okechukwu Okeke on December 17, 2012, an EFCC’s witness, Adebayo Adeniji, had told the court that several cash registers were recovered from the accounts department of the Lagos State House of Assembly, adding that more documents had been recovered from the House.