A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, adjourned till March 23, to rule on the admissibility of a list of beneficiaries of the sum of $115 million in the ongoing trial of Dele Belgore, SAN and a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, charged with money laundering.
Belgore and Sulaiman are charged alongside a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, who is said to be at large. The said $115m was allegedly deposited in the account of Allison-Madueke They were first arraigned in February, but were subsequently re-arraigned on Monday, following the amendment of the charge to include the name of Allison-Madueke.
They had pleaded not guilty to the charges and were allowed to continue on their earlier bail terms. At the hearing of the matter on Monday, a first prosecution witness, Mr Timothy Olaobaju, was led in evidence by the prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, who told the court that Belgore and Sulaiman were among the beneficiaries of the sum of $115m deposited in the account of Allison-Madueke.
The witness told the court that Belgore and Sulaiman received N450 million on March 27, 2015. At the hearing in the matter, yesterday, the prosecution sought to tender in evidence, a document containing a comprehensive list of beneficiaries of Diezani’s funds in the 36 states of the federation.
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