ALLEGED N1.38 BILLION LAUNDERING CHARGE: COURT SET TO RULE ON JUDE OKOYE’S BAIL MARCH 3
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, heard the bail application of Jude Okoye, who is facing money laundering charges.
Okoye, the elder brother and former manager of the defunct music duo Psquare, was arraigned on Wednesday, February 26, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He is accused of laundering N1.38 billion, $1 million, and £34,537.59 through his company, Northside Music Ltd.
The EFCC filed a seven-count charge against Okoye and his company before Justice Alexander Owoeye. According to
the charges, Okoye allegedly used illicit funds to acquire a property worth N850 million in Ikoyi, Lagos, and converted over $1 million through a bureau de change to conceal its source.
Okoye pleaded not guilty to the charges.
His counsel, Inibehe Effiong, urged the court to grant him bail and requested that he be held in EFCC custody pending the ruling. However, the prosecution counsel, Larry Peters Aso, opposed the request, citing congestion in EFCC detention facilities and urging the court to remand Okoye in a correctional center.
At the resumption of proceedings on Friday, the prosecution filed a counter-affidavit, arguing that Okoye posed a flight risk and could interfere with witnesses.
Effiong, however, maintained that his client had fully cooperated with investigators and did not intend to evade trial.
He also told the court that Paul Okoye, popularly known as Rudeboy, was present in court to stand as a surety for his brother.
Justice Owoeye instructed him to submit his documents through his lawyer and scheduled the bail ruling for March 3.
He also set Okoye’s trial to begin on April 14.
The charge read: “That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Ltd sometime in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did directly acquire a landed property known as No 5, Tony Eromosele Street Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos worth ₦850,000,000.00 (Eight hundred and fifty million naira) only, which money you knew or reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (2) (d) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022,” the counts read in part.
“That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Ltd sometime in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did indirectly using bureau de change convert the sum of $1,019,762.87 (One million nineteen thousand, seven hundred and six-two dollars eighty-seven cents), domiciled in Access Bank Plc operated by Northside Music Ltd to the naira equivalent and remitted into various bank accounts to conceal that the said fund form part of the proceeds of an unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (2)(a) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
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