CRIMES COMMISSION ARRAIGNS ‘IBRAHIM MAGU’ OVER BRIBERY ALLEGATION
The prosecuting counsel said one of the count- charges read: “that you Robert Terfa Swem on or about 24th October, 2019 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, did attempt to obtain money by false pretence from Mr. Anselm Agommuoh, by falsely pretending that his name has been shortlisted for investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
Penpushing further reports that, the count added, ‘and that you work closely with and an ally of the Acting Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and as such, you have the capacity to remove his name from the list, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act”
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him, and in view of his plea, prosecuting counsel, Samuel Chime, prayed the court to fix a date for trial and remand the defendant in Nigerian Correctional Service custody.
Penpushing reports that, the accused landed into trouble when he was arrested in Juanita Hotel, Port Harcourt, where he was holding a meeting with some Directors of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over a phoney offer to remove their names from the list of individuals being investigated by the anti-graft agency.
The accused having allegedly contacted the Directors claiming to be representing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman reminded them of the forensic audit of the accounts of the agency ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari and assured them that their names would be removed from the audit.
The Head of Media and Publicity of the anti-graft,Wilson Uwujaren in a statement said,“Investigations revealed that the defendant is a political hustler, roaming around Ministries and Government offices searching for information that can enable him swindle relevant personalities
Penpushing also reports that, the counsel to the defendant, Thaddaeus Dzege, however, informed the court of an application for the bail of his client, which was not opposed by the prosecuting counsel, and in view of this, Justice M.L. Abubakar granted the defendant bail in the sum of N1,000.000.00k and one surety in like sum.
The court ruled that, the surety must be a grade level 15 officer and above, and ordered the defendant to be remanded in a Nigerian Correctional Service custody pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions while the case was adjourned till January 13, 2020, for the commencement of trial.
