Dokpesi: charged to court

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has  filed money laundering charges, among others, against  Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, chairman of  Daar Communications, the owners of AIT and Ray Power.

Also charged before the Federal High Court are: Former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki, former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, former Minister of State for Finance Bashir Yuguda and former Director of Finance, Office of the National Security Adviser(ONSA), Shaibu Salisu.

The detained suspects were Tuesday served copies of the charges,The Nation newspaper reported.

Some of the suspects were meeting last night with their counsel, an indication that they might be arraigned today or before the weekend.

Sambo Dasuki: conveyed Jonathan’s authorisation for the illegal conversion of funds

In the suit, which is yet to be assigned to a judge, Dokpesi is slammed with six counts, according to court sources.

The AIT/Ray Power chairman admitted collecting N2.1billion from the office of the NSA. The money, he said, is for media services.

Dokpesi is charged along with his company – Daar Holdings and Investment Limited.

They are accused of violating the Money Laundering Act, the EFCC Act and the Public Procurement Act.

Dasuki, who is charged along with the others, is already standing trial before the Federal High Court, Abuja for alleged illegal possession of firearms and money laundering.

There were strong indications yesterday that the accounts of most of the suspects had been frozen.

According to an EFCC source, who spoke in confidence, filing the charges “is a demonstration of our commitment to the rule of law”.

He said the EFCC would not want to detain all the suspects for long “because they are overstretching our facilities”.

“Their fate will now be determined by the court. It is the court that will decide whether they should be granted bail or be remanded in prison custody,” the source added.

The investigation of the $2.1 billion arms deals will continue in spite of filing of charges, it was learnt.

*From The Nation