Nigerian businessman and former bureau de change (BDC) operator, Ciroma, has identified Buba in court and affirmed that he knows her.
Ciroma, however, stated that he and Mbagwu had never met face-to-face, noting that they only communicated via phone calls.
He presented a series of documents as proof, explaining how the $12 million was paid out at different branches of SunTrust Bank in Abuja and Lagos between March 10 and March 20.
Ciroma revealed that the transaction started when Aisha Achimugu, a businesswoman, reached out to him about conducting a forex exchange via the bank.
He maintained that he sent an associate, Tijjani Adamu, to collect the money on behalf of Ashrap Ltd, a company owned by his friend, Hassan Dantani.
The BDC operator narrated how on the same day, one Abdulkadir Mohammed picked up another $1 million, while a man identified as Kabiru collected $2 million — also in cash.
According to Ciroma, the $12M was converted and redited in tranches to Oceangate Energy Oil & Gas, a company he said is owned by Achimugu, via its Zenith Bank account.
He declared that N15 million was the profit he made from the entire transaction.
Asked about the purpose of the transaction, Ciroma responded that Achimugu simply told him that she needed the money to buy an old block.
He further clarified that Buba oversaw the Abuja transactions while Mbagwu took charge of the Lagos dealings.
The EFCC lawyer also presented WhatsApp chats between Ciroma and Buba, alongside a certificate of identification.
Even though the defence lawyers, Johnson Usman and M.S. Ibrahim, resisted the admissibility of the documents in court, their arguments were postponed to the final written address.
The presiding judge, Emeka Nwite, admitted the proof and tagged it as exhibit P1 before adjourning the trial to July 18 for further hearing.
EFCC is prosecuting Buba and Mbagwu on a 6-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of $12 million.
EFCC accused Buba and Mbagwu of aiding the illegal cash movement of millions of dollars on several occasions without routing the transactions via any financial institution, in violation of the country’s strict anti-money laundering laws
The bank executives have since pleaded not guilty to the charges, and they’ve met their bail conditions.
