N1.6bn fraud: EFCC reveals how suspended bank manager used son's account to launder funds

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, told Justice Muhammad Idris of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, how a suspended Branch Manager of Heritage Bank Plc in Yenogoa, Iwejuo Nna Joseph, allegedly concealed funds through his son’s account.

The defendant was arraigned alongside Dudafa Waripamo-Owei, a former Senior Special Adviser on Domestic Matters to former President Goodluck Jonathan, on June 11, 2016, on a 23-count charge of conspiracy to conceal proceeds of crime to the tune of N1.6 billion.

While cross-examining Joseph who gave evidence in his defence, the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, asked him to confirmed that he deposited various sums of money including N9.5m on January 22, 2014 to his son's bank account.

In response, Joseph, who disclosed that his son was born on December 28, 2006 and that he opened an account for him soon afterwards, answered in the affirmative. The defendant also confirmed depositing a sum of N5million in his son’s account on February 3, 2014, among others.

When asked where the money came from, the defendant said it must have been from the account of Ebiwise Resources owned by his family. He said a sum of N9million, for instance, was transferred from his son’s account to the Ebiwise Resources account,  which he and his wife jointly operate. The defendant further stated that his company once got a contract from the Bayelsa State government to construct a Sport Academy building.

“We submitted an application for the job. There were so many buildings and they allocated one to us. Our company was paid N41million for the contract by the Bayelsa State government," he said.

Asked if he disclosed to his bank that he was also a government contractor, Joseph answered in the negative, adding that “I did not disclose it because it was not necessary. But my colleagues knew about the family business." .