EFCC Presents Two More Witnesses Against Businessman In Alleged Issuance Of False Documents Trial In Lagos

The trial of  one Bernard Nzenwa , who is being prosecuted on a one-count charge bordering on issuance of false documents before Justice R.A. Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, continued Wednesday, June, 14,  2023 as the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,  further presented two more witnesses, Stephen Fadeyi, an official of the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, and Titi Osuntoki, a former Executive Director with Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB, against him.

 The offence is contrary to Section 360(1)(b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

 The count reads: "Bernard Okechukwu  Nzenwa, Omega Maritine and Energy Limited, and Dr. Oluchi Nzenwa, (now at large), sometime on the 9th March, 2011, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, issued a false document titled, "BOND FOR THE RE-EXPORTATION OF IMPORTED GOODS DELIVERED WITHOUT PAYMENT OF IMPORT DUTIES."

 He pleaded "not guilty" to the charge when he was arraigned on December 6, 2022.

 Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel G.C. Akaogu, Fadeyi, who is the third prosecution witness, PW3, told the court that the NCS, sometime in May 2022, received a letter of inquiry from the EFCC "on this particular company".

 He explained that if someone was granted a temporary importation permit, "the bond serves as a guarantee in lieu of you not being able to pay customs duty, in which case the bank will be able to offset it".

 Fadeyi, who stated that he was not party to the transaction in question, further told the court that “In 2015, the man in charge of bond license and permit seal wrote a letter to the bank to convert the bond to the Nigerian Customs Service, but the bank replied that the bond did not originate from the bank."

 He noted that the value attached to the bond was about N97,480,930.

 According to him, "When I got the letter from the EFCC, I decided to write to the bank for more clarification, and the bank replied that the bond did not come from them."

 He, thereafter, identified the copies of the bond diary, the letter by his colleague to the GTB in 2015, the response from the bank indicating that the bond did not emanate from the bank as well as the correspondence between him and the bank in 2022 on the subject matter. 

 When the prosecution sought to tender them in evidence, there  was no objection by the defence counsel, Godwin Omoaka, SAN.

 Justice Oshodi, thereafter, admitted all the documents as exhibits against the defendant. 

 Osuntoki, testifying as the fourth prosecution witness, PW4, was also confronted with the said bond document said to have emanated from GTB.

 Identifying the said document, she refuted the claim by the defence that the signature on the face of it was hers.

 "This is certainly not my signature; this is not the way I write; it is a far cry from my signature; I certainly didn't sign that document," she said.

When asked by Akaogu if she could oblige the court her signature specimen in court, she said, "I'll gladly give the specimen of my signature".

 She further testified that, at the time she was with the  bank, spanning 21 years, "signature was done manually".

 Thereafter, Akaogu applied to the court for the witness to be given a plain A4 paper to append 10 specimens of her signature in open court. There was no objection from the defence. 

 The prosecution, thereafter, sought to tender the signature specimens. It was admitted as exhibit against the defendant, as there was no objection by the defence.