TEARS OF JOY!! FROM ARCHIVE - Dated February 14, 2014. Please read and Share! DIMEJI BANKOLE WEEPS AS COURT ACQUITS(FRED) HIM OF FRAUD - By Segun Adebowale / February 14, 2014 A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday(February 14) discharged and acquitted former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, on corruption charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The court found there was NO EVIDENCE linking the former Speaker with the financial malfeasance alleged against him, thus setting him free. But a visibly stunned Bankole, seated in the witness box, began to shed tears after listening to the judgment. He mumbled incoherently for some time before his aides moved close, urging him to calm down and leave the box. Afterwards, a smiling Bankole surrounded by aides and well-wishers turned down requests to for comments. He said: “Not now. “I’ll talk later.” The EFCC had accused Bankole before a Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice E. S. Chukwu, that he used non existent companies to divert public funds. The former speaker faced a 16-count criminal charge bordering on contract inflation and fraudulent embezzlement of public fund totalling N9 billion. One of the prosecution witnesses, Ibrahim Ahmed, who was led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Festus Keyamo, said that in the course of investigation, letters were written and sent to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, banks where the House maintained accounts and the Accountant-General of the Federation for the details of the releases made to the House in respect of 2010 capital budget. Ibrahim added that a letter was also written to the Director-General of Bureau for Public Procurement for the current price of items mentioned in the petition against Bankole. Ibrahim further told the court that from the responses, the contractors were identified and a letter was sent to the Corporate Affairs Commission to verify the status of these companies. The prosecution witness further told the court that based on the response from the CAC, the investigative team decided to do a physical verification of the addresses of the companies. The witness also revealed that based on investigation, the contractors were discovered to have been PAID. With additional report by Uhuru Times. theeagleonline.ng/dimeji-bankole-weeps-court-acquits-fraud/
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 14:06:39 +0000
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