2nd March, 2017
The absence of prosecution witness on Thursday stalled the trial of a former acting governor of Adamawa, Ahmadu Fintiri, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The witness, Ibrahim Andrew, who testified at the last adjourned date, was to be cross examined by the defence counsel but he was absent in court.
Mr Larry Aso, counsel to the EFCC, told the court that the witness was unavoidably absent for reasons beyond his control.
Aso, however, applied for an adjournment and promised that the witness would be in court at the next adjourned date.
Fintiri’s counsel, Mr M. A Magaji, did not oppose the application of the prosecution for an adjournment.
The judge, Justice A. R Mohammed, adjourned the matter till May 3 for cross examination.
Fintiri was arraigned on June 30, 2016 alongside Mayim Construction and Properties Limited for laundering money to the tune of N2.9 billion through his naira and dollar accounts domiciled at Ecobank Plc.
He was also arraigned for making large cash payment for the purchase of a property at plot 7, Gana Str., Maitama, Abuja, when he held sway as the acting governor of the state.
The offence contravened Section 15(2)(a) of the Money laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) and (4) of the same Act.