Witness Faults Attempt by FG to Link Saraki with Foreign Transfers

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, for alleged asset declaration falsification continued yesterday with the revelation from a prosecution witness, Amazu Nwanchukwu, that AMEX Limited, operators of Saraki’s foreign card was not a bank

The witness also rubbished attempt by the prosecutor to link Saraki with series of foreign transfers, saying he knew nothing about the alleged foreign accounts transactions by the defendant when he was the Governor of Kwara State.

The witness, a senior staff of the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), told the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja that he was given the documents he read at the tribunal by the prosecution and not that he has knowledge of the alleged transactions.

Under cross-examination by Paul Usoro (SAN), counsel to Saraki, the witness said: “I was just ask to read the documents not that I knew anything about them.

“I saw the telexes said to have been used for funds transfer to foreign countries when I came into contact with this case. I have nothing to do with the transfer; I was not the one who conducted the transfer.”

The witness further told the tribunal that he did not see the documents at the Ilorin branch of the bank and that he never saw the forms filled by Saraki for the alleged funds transfer.
Pressed further by Usoro, the witness admitted that he was not the one that collated the forms and that he did not source for the documents from the Ilorin branch to authenticate the alleged funds transfer.

“I am only concerned about my unit, and I am talking as a staff of the bank and not as one who work at the branch where the alleged funds transfer was carried out in Ilorin.”
The witness further told the tribunal that he made his statement to EFCC September 10, 2015, five days after Saraki had been charged before the tribunal by the federal government.
On Saraki’s relationship with American Express Bank and Fortis Bank of London, the witness informed the Justice Umar Danladi-led tribunal that he did not consult with the two banks to know their relationship with Saraki.

He further said he did not know anything about the mortgage serviced by Saraki when he was the governor of Kwara State, adding, “I have never seen the agreement paper or any account opening mandate with Fortis Bank to establish that the defendant maintained foreign accounts with Fortis Bank of London. I have never seen the fund transfer request forms from the defendant.
“My unit, the fund transfer unit, does not have direct interface with the customer. We do not also interface with beneficiaries of transferred funds.”

“I am aware that American Express Services Europe Limited where Saraki allegedly transferred money to was not a bank. The E-payment unit of GTBank carries out such foreign funds transfer and I have never worked at the unit. I cannot give evidence on the operation of the American express bank too because I have not worked there.”

On the alleged fire that gutted the foreign operations unit of the bank in 2011 the witness said he did not say anything on the fire outbreak in his statement to the EFCC because he only answered broad questions put to him by EFCC during interrogation and that the inventory of what the fire consumed was not made available to the tribunal.

Earlier, the witness told the tribunal he never met with Saraki in person until yesterday and that he had never worked at the Ilorin branch of the GTBank.

He told the tribunal that anytime foreign fund transfer is to be implemented, the account holders are always requested at the branch where the accounts are domiciled to fill forms and that after filling the forms, they would be handed over to the accounts officers who in turn would forward same to the foreign funds transfer unit where the transaction would be executed when mandate signatures are found to be okay.

Meanwhile, the tribunal adjourned further cross-examination of the witness till today.