Wale Babalakin, the embattled Bi-Courtney boss chiefly implicated in a monumental money laundering scheme on behalf of the former Delta State Governor, James Onanefe Ibori, failed to appear in court again today.
Wale Babalakin, the embattled Bi-Courtney boss chiefly implicated in a monumental money laundering scheme on behalf of the former Delta State Governor, James Onanefe Ibori, failed to appear in court again today.
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Mr. Babalakin's counsel, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), told the judge, Mr. Adeniyi Onigbanjo, that his client “missed his flight” from Abuja into Lagos.
Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), observed that with the matter commencing late, just before noon, there was ample time for anyone who took it seriously to have met the session in court. He pointed out that his other clients flew in from Abuja during the same morning period.
Fagbemi urged that other applications be moved.
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Mr. Babalakin is charged alongside Alex Okoh and three companies: Bi-Courtney, Stabilini Visioni and Renix Ltd with complicity in the laundering of the money through an Erin Aviation account in Mauritius.
Before his first appearance in court, in which he was accompanied by some loyalists who appeared to be adherents of the white garment faith, Babalakin had played many hide and seek antics, including feigning ailment for several days at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital [LUTH]. When he finally appeared, he hired a battery of lawyers and white garment prayers warriors to accompany him to court. Apart from obtaining seamless bail from the court on the basis of self-recognition as a former university pro-chancellor, Babalakin—himself a lawyer—once told court that he would prefer to sit adjacent to the bar, as opposed to standing in the dock, but that request was declined.
After retrieving his passport from the EFCC by way of a court order, Babalakin proceeded to file a series of applications through his counsel to quash the charges against him. The judge however ordered that all applications be consolidated into one in view of the fact that they are basically have that objective on behalf of Babalakin.
Ruling today on an application to quash the charges against the fourth defendant, Stabilini Visioni, Mr. Onigbanjo held that the stated ground claiming that an appeal by the defendant was in the appellate court was not going to cause irreparable damage to the defendant, but may rather result in miscarriage of justice if court proceedings were stopped for the stated reason. As a result, the application failed.
Given the new trend, the cult of SAN's appearing for Mr. Babalakin other defendants began to withdraw other applications that border on the same prayers, but keeping other applications to relieve Mr. Babalakin and his alleged accomplices.
After hearing and ruling on various technical arguments by the prosecution and defense teams, the judge adjourned to 5th June, 2013 for hearing on applications by the 2nd and 3rd defendants, Alex Okoh and Bi-Courtney, respectively.
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