Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, who represents the Delta North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, and his two companies, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd. and Suiming Electrical Ltd., were found guilty today, July 1, 2022, and sentenced to seven years in prison.
In accordance with Section 22 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended), the Court of Appeal further directed that the firms that were the second and third respondents in the appeal be wound up and that their assets be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The panel, which was made up of Justices Abdullahi Bayero, Obande Ogbuniya, and Peter Affen, concluded in their ruling that the trial court erred because the prosecution had successfully established its case against the respondents beyond a reasonable doubt. This decision overturned the earlier decision exonerating and clearing the respondents.
The Federal High Court’s decision to discharge and acquit the defendants of a two-count accusation of fraud and money laundering was challenged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on June 18, 2021.
The three defendants were charged by the EFCC for buying Guinea House, Marine Road in Apapa, Lagos, for N805 million. It was claimed that N322 million, or a portion of the money paid to the vendor, which Suiming Electrical Ltd sent on behalf of Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd, was part of the proceeds of fraud.
But in his ruling, Justice Aneke stated that the prosecution had not shown sufficient solid evidence or important witnesses to support the elements of the offenses for which it had accused the defendants.
The third defendant got a loan of N1.2 billion from Zenith Bank for the acquisition of more equipment and as payment for working capital, according to Justice Aneke’s assessment of PW2’s testimony.
“It also proved that the loan of N1.2 billion together with interest of N24 million was properly granted to the third. Nothing else was proved by the complainant or prosecutor in this case,” the judge said
He asserted that the prosecution’s inability to invite officials of Sterling Bank “to testify and perhaps offer exhibits F and F10” delivered the prosecution’s case a devastating blow. As a result, he released and exonerated the defendants.
Nevertheless, the Court of Appeal found that the trial judge erred in dismissing the charges against the respondents in its decision on the EFCC’s appeal today. It stated that the defendants were found guilty as charged because the prosecution had established all elements of the crime.
