- EFCC Allegedly Fingers Ex-Director Of SMEDAN In N119m Money Laundering
By Abiola Olawale
The woes of a former Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Bature Umar Masari, have continued to persist, as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has nailed a fresh 22 charge against him.
The anti-graft agency, in the fresh 22 charges, accused Masari of laundering N119 million and receiving illegal gratifications.
The EFCC read the new charge to Masari in a fresh arraignment before Justice O.A. Egwuatu at the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja.
During the court proceedings on Tuesday, May 27, the prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, presented the amended charges, originally dated May 13, 2013, and filed on May 17, 2019.
Iheanacho requested the charges be read to Masari, who then pleaded “not guilty” to all counts.
Count 19 of the charge reads: “That you Bature Umar Masari, between 27th June 2014 and 17th July 2014, at Abuja, within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did use the sum of N10,000,000.00 (Ten million naira) paid into your Diamond Bank Plc Account No. 002688674 by Rahuse Ventures Limited, when you reasonably ought to have known that the said N10,000,000.00 was proceeds of unlawful activities to wit: conspiracy and gratification, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011, as amended, by Act No. 1 of 2012, and punishable under section 15(3) of the same Act.”
Count 20 reads: “That you Bature Umar Masari, between 14th July 2014 and 21st July 2014, at Abuja, within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did use the sum of N10,000,000.00 (Ten million naira) paid into your Diamond Bank Plc Account No. 002688674 by Rahuse Ventures Limited, when you reasonably ought to have known that the said N10,000,000.00 was proceeds of unlawful activities to wit: conspiracy and gratification, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011, as amended, by Act No. 1 of 2012, and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”
Justice Egwuatu allowed Masari to remain on bail under his counsel’s supervision, and adjourned the case to July 16, 2024, for trial commencement.
The New Diplomat reports that Masari, accused of money laundering and gratification, first appeared before Justice Okon Abang at the Federal High Court in Abuja in May 2019 on similar charges.
Initially arraigned on April 10, 2019, on a 17-count charge, Masari’s case was expanded due to additional evidence brought forward by the EFCC.
The allegations against him pertain to violations of Section 15(2)(b) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011, as amended in 2012.
In an earlier separate case, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) arraigned Masari in September 2018 before an FCT High Court in Apo, Abuja.
He faced 27 counts related to money laundering and embezzlement, including the fraudulent award of constituency project contracts worth N184.5 million without due process.
Additionally, Masari was accused of receiving N50 million from a contractor on November 27, 2014, and distributing part of the sum to others, thus contravening Section 10 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
