Arms deal: Anenih received another N21.8m from Metuh – EFCC

The name of a former Chairman of the Board of Trustee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, has again surfaced in a fresh set of charges bordering on the diversion of funds meant for procurement of arms as having collected N21.8m from the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh.

The N21.8m is different from the N260m said to have been paid to Anenih by the Office of the National Security Adviser as alleged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in one of the separate set of charges of misappropriation of the arms funds preferred against Dasuki and others before Justice Baba Yusuf of the  Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama.

The EFCC again named Anenih as of the beneficiaries of the N400m collected by Metuh from the Office of the National Security Adviser in the seven counts of money laundering it filed on Thursday against the PDP's spokesperson and a firm, Destra Investments Limited, before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The  EFCC alleged in the fresh money laundering case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/05/2016, that Metuh and Destra through their account with Diamond Bank Plc collected the sum of N400m from the NSA office on November 22, 2015, for PDP's campaign activities.

The prosecution alleged that the N400m was 'part‎ of the proceeds of an unlawful activity' of the immediate past NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).

In the fresh charges, Metuh and Destra  allegedly transferred the sum of N21.8m to Anenih and they (Metuh and Destra) thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15(2) (b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended in 2012) and punishable under section 15(3) of the same Act.

The EFCC alleged in the last and seventh count that out of the N400m collected from the  NSA office, Metuh transferred the sum of N21,776,000 to Anenih on December 4, 2014.

The count seven reads, 'That you, Olisa Metuh and Destra Investments Limited on December 4, 2014 did transfer the sum of N21,776,000 being part of the sum of N400m which directly represented the unlawful activity of Colonel Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, the then National Security Adviser, (to wit: breach of trust and corruption), to Chief Tony Anenih and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15(2) (b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended in 2012 and punishable under section 15(3) of the same Act.'

In counts five and six, Metuh and the company on December 2, 2014 allegedly made separate cash payments of $1m each to Kabiru Ibrahim and Sie Iyenome of Capital Field Investments.

Both cash payments of the total sum of $2m were said to have been made through an agent of the accused person, named, Nneka Nicole Ararume. - Punch.