BEVERLY HILLS, October 22, (THEWILL) – Two businessmen — Linus Chibuike and Nnamdi Ojukwu — were arraigned, Thursday, before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos over money laundering.
The two businessmen were each arraigned on a one-count charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to which they pleaded not guilty.
Following an oral application for bail by their counsel, Mr. Abubakar Shamsudeen and Mr. Chris Nwokedi, respectively, Justice Ibrahim Buba granted them bail in the sum of N50 million each, with one surety each in like sum.
Buba fixed Nov. 2 for substantive trial of the accused persons.
The prosecutor, Mr. Latona Gbolahan, had told the court that the accused committed the offence on Oct. 8.
He said that they were arrested by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
According to the prosecutor, the accused were apprehended during the outbound clearance of passengers on board a flight to China.
He said that the $2.5 million and $2.9 million respectively, were recovered from the accused, adding that they failed to declare the money to officers of the NCS as required by law.
The prosecutor alleged that Chibuike falsely declared the sum of $11,500 as being the only amount in his possession, while Ojukwu failed to declare the money in his possession.
According to Nwokedi, the offence contravened the provisions of section 2(3) and 2(5) of the Money Laundering Act, 201, as amended by Act No 1 of 2012.
