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The Federal Government has appealed a judgment of the Federal High Court that acquitted former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr. Femi Thomas, of multiple counts of money laundering.
In a July 24, 2014 ruling, Justice Ayokunle Faji, discharged and acquitted Thomas on five of the six counts filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), holding that the agency failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The court, however, convicted him on one count of violating Nigeria’s cash transaction limit law and ordered the EFCC to return the seized funds to Thomas within 14 days, subject to payment of a N10 million fine.
“The transaction in count five was not found to be a crime, only that it exceeded the cash threshold.
“I, therefore, order the prosecution to return the money to the defendant within 14 days,” the judge ruled.
Justice Faji noted that the EFCC admitted during trial that it did not investigate several claims made by the defendant and had not established unlawful enrichment against him.
The judge, however, found Dr Thomas guilty on count five, which involved making a cash payment exceeding the N5m threshold allowed by law.
He was sentenced to pay a fine of N10m in place of imprisonment.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the EFCC, through a notice of appeal filed by E.E. Iheanacho (SAN) and a team of lawyers, urged the appellate court to set aside the acquittals.
The agency is asking the court to convict Thomas on counts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 of the amended charge.
The EFCC is also praying the court to order the forfeiture of $2,198,000 (about N433 million) recovered from him to the Federal Government.
In its grounds of appeal, the EFCC argued that the trial court relied on “imaginary and fanciful doubts” to absolve Thomas, despite what it described as clear evidence of unlawful enrichment.
It contended that Thomas failed to satisfactorily explain the significant increase in his assets while serving as a public officer, as required under Section 140 of the Evidence Act 2011, Section 19(5) of the EFCC Act, and Section 82 of the Lagos State Criminal Law 2011.
The EFCC also posited that the trial judge erred by dismissing the adequacy of its investigations and rejecting documentary evidence, including audited financial statements, which it said contradicted Thomas’ explanations.
Besides, the EFCC stated that Safeline Agro Business Ltd, allegedly owned by Thomas, declared a pre-tax profit of only N3.9 million in 2014, yet purportedly generated $2.2 million the same year an explanation the EFCC called “unreasonable and unsatisfactory.”
The appellant argued that the lower court wrongly “picked and chose” between inconsistent pieces of evidence from Thomas instead of rejecting them and accepting the prosecution’s case.
The EFCC further faulted the court for failing to give weight to Thomas’ asset declaration forms (Exhibits G1–G12) submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau, which it said undermined his claims of lawful income sources.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal.
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