Court Strikes Out Money Laundering Charge against Shasore as EFCC Discontinues CaseCourtCourt Strikes Out Money Laundering Charge against Shasore as EFCC Discontinues Case

Wale Igbintade

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, hasstruck out a four-count charge of money laundering filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), against a former Attorney General of Lagos State, Supo Shasore, SAN.

At the resumed hearing of the suit, yesterday, the EFCC Prosecutor, Bala Sanga, informed the court that the commission was no longer interested in continuing its money laundering case against the former Lagos State Attorney-General.

Consequently, Justice Aneke struck out the charge.

With the matter struck out, the defence team led by Wale Akoni, SAN and Chijioke Okoli, SAN applied for the release of Shasore’s international passport, which the court granted.

The  two charges brought against Shasore on similar set of facts had earlier been struck out by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court sitting at Abuja and Justice Mojisola Dada of the High Court of Lagos State.

The former AG was recently exonerated of complicity by Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales in the shenanigans that bedeviled by controversial Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited contract.

The judgment was delivered in favour of the federal government after five years of legal frameworks, which saw the court quash the $11 billion arbitration award in favour of P&ID.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Shasore last October before Justice Aneke over alleged money laundering to the tune of $200,000.

But, Shasore’s team of lawyers led by Akoni SAN, challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the charge among other issues.

Consequently, Akoni urged the court to quash the four-count charge of money laundering brought against him by the EFCC.

The EFCC in charge numbered FHC/L/447C/2022, had accused Shasore (SAN) of accepting, transacting and making payments with cash payment of the sum of US100,000 USD, without going through a financial institution, which such exceeded the amount authorised by law.

The alleged offences, according to the EFCC, contravened sections 78(c), 1(a) and 16(1)(d) and 18(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and punishable under section 16(6) and 16(2)(b)of the same Act.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the charges, when he was arraigned and he was accordingly admitted to bail in the sum of N50 million with one surety in like sum.