‘N3.1bn fraud’: I delivered $15.8m cash to Suswam at home, says witness

Abubakar Umar, a witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says he gave Gabriel Suswam, a former governor of Benue, the sum of $15.8 million cash – equivalent of N3.1 billion – at his residence in Abuja in 2014.

In 2020, Suswam and Omadachi Okolobia, a former finance commissioner in Benue, were re-arraigned on an 11-count charge bordering on money laundering.

They were both accused of diverting N3.1 billion from the state coffers.

They were first arraigned before Ahmed Mohammed, a judge of the federal high court, in 2015.

During Friday’s proceedings, Umar, a bureau de change operator, told the court how he received money from Suswam through proxies on numerous occasions in tranches.

“One day in 2014, when I was in the office, the former governor of Benue State asked me to meet him in his house in Maitama, Abuja. I went and met him in the house together with one fair woman,” he said.

“He asked me to give the woman my account number. I gave the woman my Zenith Bank account number. The woman said she’ll send money into that account.

“On the 8th of August 2014, N413 million was transferred to my account. Based on this, I called the former governor and he told me to change the money to dollars and I asked him to give me time to do that.

“Three days after I bought the dollar equivalent, I called the former governor and informed him that the money was ready. He now asked me to take the money to his house in Maitama, near Jumat Mosque. I now told him that he should inform the security at the gate that I was coming, if not they’ll not allow me access into the gate.

“I took a cab to the house, and after I arrived at the house, I knocked at the gate and they opened. I told them my name. They opened the first and second gates and I sat in the waiting room where he came and met me.

“I now brought out the money which we both confirmed to be the equivalent of the N413 million.

“The total money transferred to my account was N3 billion.”

After hearing the testimony of the witness, Peter Lifu, the judge presiding over the case, adjourned the matter till October 4, 2024, for continuation of trial.