Sa’adatu Yaro, a co-defendant in the latest charges brought against the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele, has a money laundering case pending in the courts.
She is billed for the arraignment along with Mr. Emefiele in a new procurement fraud case at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on Thursday.
Before Mr. Emefiele was arrested and subsequently charged, Ms. Yaro had faced money laundering charges.
On May 22, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), indicted her before a judge, Obiora Egwuatu, of the Federal High Court in Abuja on alleged money laundering charges of N140 billion.
Godwin Emefiele, Suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). [Image sourced from CBN Twitter account]She was prosecuted along with her company, Tsami Babi Resources Limited, for failing in her duty as a director to disclose the company’s financial transactions to the Federal Ministry of Commerce.
Some of the alleged breaches were financial transactions in the account of Tsami Babi Resources Limited with a new generation bank to the tune of more than N100 billion which were not disclosed to the Ministry of Commerce.
“…Saadatu Ramallan Yaro, being a Director of Tsami Babi Resources Limited, a designated non-financial institution, between July 5, 2021 and April 20, 2022, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, did not submit to the Ministry of Commerce, a declaration of activities of said company within which the total sum of N20,967,535,184.00 (twenty thousand nine hundred sixty-seven million, five hundred thirty-five thousand, one hundred eighty-four naira) was deposited to the account of the Company No.1216254641 domiciled at Zenith Bank Plc,” one of the posts read.
The EFCC said the alleged offense violates “sections 5(1)(a), 16(1) of the Prohibition of Money Laundering Act 2011 (as amended) and is punishable under section 16(2)( b) of the same Law”.
In a separate charge, Ms. Ramallan-Yaro was indicted together with MAY FINE FRAGRANCE LIMITED, a designated non-financial institution for money laundering to the tune of N40 billion.
Following the arraignment of the defendants, Ms. Ramalan-Yaro pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the May hearing, the prosecution’s lawyer, Faruk Abdullah, urged the judge to set a date for the trial.
But, the defendants’ lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN’s Chief Advocate, prayed to the court to admit his client on bail.
Subsequently, Mr. Egwuatu granted the defendant a bond in the amount of N100 million with two guarantees for the same amount.
The judge also added that one of the guarantors must be a public servant and the other a relative.
Mr. Egwuatu ordered Ms. Ramalan-Yaro to deposit her international passport with the chief clerk of the court and adjourned the claim for trial.
A couple of weeks before Ms. Ramalan-Yaro was due to be arraigned at the Abuja Federal High Court, she was indicted by the anti-corruption agency in Lagos for alleged money laundering, the newspaper punch informed.
fresh charges
In a new set of charges, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mohammed Abubakar, revealed that Mr. Ramallan-Yaro is an employee of the CBN.
Mr. Emefiele and Ms. Ramalan-Yaro and their company, April 1616 Investment Limited, are due to appear in the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Thursday.
The prosecution accuses Mr. Emefiele of giving corrupt advantages to Ms. Ramallan-Yaro by awarding contracts to her company to the tune of N99.9 million for the supply of automobiles.
Court documents showed that the alleged transactions took place between 2018 and 2020, to the tune of N6.9 billion.
In the first charge, Emefiele was said to have “at some point in 2018, within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, used his position as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff member from the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of 37 (Nos.) Toyota Hilux vehicles at a cost of N854,700,000 only to April 1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which she is a director and therefore Therefore, he committed a crime.”
In another charge, the suspended head of CBN, Ms. Yaro and her company “sometime in 2019 within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court conspired among yourselves to use the office of Mr. Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to confer a corrupt lead on Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff member of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of 1 (No.) Toyota Landcruiser V8 at a cost of N73,800,000 only to April 1616 Investment Ltd.” the stated charge.
According to count 10, “Ms. Yaro, at some point in 2018 within the jurisdiction of this honorable court while working at CBN, knowingly directly had a private interest as a director in April1616 Investment Ltd., in a contract awarded to said company, for the supply of 47 Toyota Hilux vehicles at a cost of N1,085, 700,000 and therefore committed a crime.”
Count 11 reads: “That you, Sa’adatu Rammala Yaro, female, adult, at some point in 2018 within the jurisdiction of this honorable court while working at CBN, knowingly directly had a private directorial interest in April1616 Investment Ltd., in a contract awarded to said company, emanating from the CBN where you work, for the supply of 10 Mercedes Benz armored buses at a cost of N2,222,500.00 and therefore committed a crime.”
President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele as CBN governor on June 9.
The next day, June 10, the SSS picked him up in Lagos and took him to their headquarters in Abuja for questioning.
ALSO READ: FG to indict Emefiele for new N6.9 billion fraud
Since then, Emefiele has remained in SSS custody. Her co-defendant in the new case, Ms. Yaro, who was arrested along with her husband, Aminu Yaro, on July 12, also remains in custody.
This newspaper reported how the FCT Superior Court ordered the release of the couple on July 25. But the order was not carried out.
It took an order from the FCT High Court on July 13, more than a month after the arrest, for the SSS to file firearms possession charges against Mr. Emefiele.
Subsequently, on 25 July, the SSS indicted him before the Lagos Federal High Court on two counts of “illegal possession” of firearms and live ammunition.
The government requested on Tuesday that firearms possession charges against Emefiele be dropped.
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Let hear it in the comment below if you do have an opinion on this; Emefiele’s co-defendant, Sa’adatu Yaro, has a separate money laundering case