The prosecution counsel, Ibrahim Mohammed, therefore prayed the court to fix a date for trial and to remand the suspects in custody.
Executives members of the College of Education Warri Non Academic Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Delta State have been arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged embezzlement of N32 million belonging to the cooperative.
The suspects, Afure Anomioghene Joe, Monica Ossai, Akpiten Natty Onyisi and Okeleza Isaac were on Tuesday arraigned by the Benin zonal office of the EFCC at the Federal High Court sitting in Warri on 16 counts bordering on allegations of converting N32 million of funds belonging to the cooperative to their personal use.
One of the charges reads, “That you Afure Anomioghene Joe, being the President of College of Education Warri Non-Academic Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society; Monica Ossai, being the Treasurer, College of Education Warri Non-Academic Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society; Okeleza Isaac, being the Financial Secretary, College of Education Warri Non-Academic Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society on or around 1st June, 2012, in Warri within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did transfer the sum of N2,000,000.00 (two million naira ) only from the Union Bank Account of College of Education Warri Non-Academic Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Warri into an account domicile at First Bank Plc, operated by Mukoro Samuel which such funds you knew form part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: fraud, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition)Act, 2011 (as amended by the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”
The suspects however pleaded 'not guilty' to the charges.
The prosecution counsel, Ibrahim Mohammed, therefore prayed the court to fix a date for trial and to remand the suspects in custody.
After listening to both parties, the presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, adjourned the case to April 28, 2021 for trial and ordered that the suspects be remanded at the correctional Centre in Sapele, Delta State.