A prosecution witness, Mr Abubakar Madaki, on Wednesday, told a Federal High Court Lagos, that series of investigations were conducted on fraud allegations against former Oyo State Governor, Rasheed Ladoja.
Madaki, an operative with the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC), testified at the resumed trial of Ladoja and a former Commissioner for Finance in the state, Waheed Akanbi, standing trial over N4.7 billion fraud.
The accused were brought before Justice Mohammed Idris on Dec.14, 2016, but they pleaded not guilty to the eight-count charge preferred against them by the EFCC.
The judge had then granted them bail.
When trial resumed on Wednesday, the prosecution counsel, Mr Oluwafemi Olabisi, continued examination of Madaki.
Olabisi asked: “in the course of your evidence you made reference to separate investigations conducted by the stock exchange; so take a look at these document and tell the court what it is.”
In response, the witness told the court that the document represents one of those evidences received at the stock exchange during investigation.
He said that when the accused claimed that the Oyo State shares were sold in bulk, the commission decided to embark on investigations to determine if the shares were actually a bulk sale.
He said that the commission discovered that the stock exchange was also investigating the matter and making recoveries.
He added that when they discovered that the commission had taken over the case, they remitted their recoveries to them.
According to him, the EFCC also discovered that quarter 361, a residential apartment, was purchased by one Atanda on behalf of the first accused, with the proceeds of shares from Heritage Apartments.
The witness further told the court that investigations were extended to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), to unravel the identity of another company named Bistrum Investment Ltd, which was also used in the transfer of Oyo State funds.
Source: NAN
