Nigerian court sentences two Lebanese citizens to prison for money laundering
- The EFCC has secured the conviction of two Lebanese citizens to one-count charge each for money laundering
- The convicts were arrested for attempting to smuggle a total sum of $890,000 out of Nigeria
- The EFCC said Khali was arrested with $670,000, while Mohammed had in his possession the sum of $220,000
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of two Lebanese citizens after they both pleaded guilty to a separate one-count charge of money laundering.
The anti-graft agency told the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers state that Chamseddine Waell Mohammed and Dina Jihad Khalil were arrested for attempting to smuggle a total sum of $890,000 out of Nigeria.
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The anti-graft agency said the noted amount was found inside their luggage on board a chartered flight with the registration number 9HVFF to Lebanon.
EFCC disclosed that Khalil was arrested with $670,000, while Mohammed had in his possession the sum of $220,000.
The prosecution prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendants as charged.
However, counsel to the defendants, Paul Ejiga urged the court to temper justice with mercy as the defendants were first time offenders with no previous criminal records.
Justice Sani consequently convicted and sentenced the defendants to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine of one million naira each.
The court ordered that the undeclared amount be forfeited to the federal government of Nigeria.
In another report, Wahab Shittu, lawyer of Ibrahim Magu has denied the fresh allegations against the embattled chairman of the EFCC.
Speaking on Wednesday, August 19, Shittu said the allegation that EFCC operatives under Magu's supervision demanded N75 million bribe from a businessman Donald Wokoma is false, Premium Times reported.
Magu's lead counsel Shittu dismissed Wokoma's claim, saying the allegation against the EFCC boss and his boys were fabricated.
In other news, following the prosecution of the EFCC, a Lagos state special offences court has sentenced an internet fraudster, Abiona Akinyemi Festus, to two years imprisonment.
The prosecution of Festus by the EFCC came after the Federal Bureau of Investigations of the United States (US) appealed to the commission to arrest him on the basis of his alleged involvement in a multi-million naira fraud, PR Nigeria reported.
One of the charges against the suspect was that he used a fake email address in 2011 to withdraw the sum of N5,950,000 from retirement accounts operated by an insurance company for public workers in the US.
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