Court to fix date for Kenny Martins’ ‘N7.74bn fraud’ trial

A federal capital territory (FCT) high court will fix a fresh date for the hearing of the suit the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed against Kenny Martins, Lagos-based socialite.

The court had earlier fixed Tuesday for hearing of the suit but the court would not sit as a result of the lockdown President Muhammadu Buhari ordered to check the spread of COVID-19.

Modupe Adebiyi, a judge, had fixed Tuesday before the coronavirus crisis in the country.

The EFCC is prosecuting Martins, former coordinator of the police equipment fund (PEF), following his alleged connivance with three others to “embezzle about N7.740 billion”.

The EFCC had appealed against the judgment of Mohammed Talba, judge of a federal capital territory high court, Gudu, which discharged Martins and Ibrahim Dumuje, Joni Icheka and Cosmas Okpara, his co-defendants, after he upheld their “no-case submission” on November 24, 2009.

Dissatisfied with the verdict of the lower court, the EFCC approached the court of appeal in Abuja, asking it to set aside the judgment on the grounds of “perverse verdict and miscarriage of justice”.

In its decision over the matter, appellate court had on June 28, 2012, upheld the argument of the EFCC, insisting that its appeal was meritorious.

The court of appeal had further in its landmark judgment read by Regina Nwodo, a judge, held that Talba erred in his judgement and consequently ordered the chief judge of the FCT high court to reassign the case to another judge for re-trial.

But as the EFCC was getting set to rearraign the defendants, Martins proceeded to the supreme court, asking the apex court to set aside the decision of the court of appeal.

However, on March 23, 2018, the apex court dismissed Martins’ appeal, paving the way for EFCC to commence his trial.

The anti-graft agency amended the charges against Martins and other defendants and arraigned them before Adebiyi on January 15, 2020.