Hearing continues today in the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki over false assets declaration at the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja.
Tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar adjourned the session after another day of cross examination of the star witness, Micheal Wetkas.
Wetkas, an EFCC operative said the Commission needed diplomatic clearance to obtain details of Senate President Bukola Saraki’s account in the U.S. during cross examination by Saraki’s lawyer, Paul Usoroh (SAN).
Saraki is facing a 13-count charge bordering on allegations of false asset declaration and money laundering. He had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The witness said “my lord, this is a foreign bank account we are investigating and we needed diplomatic clearance before we can obtain such documents.
“We have to contact our foreign counterpart in the U.S. before we can get details of the telex of the transactions in the American Express Bank and
Saraki`s credit card. Our investigation is basically on the credit card account issued to Saraki by the American bank in New York.”
Wetkas further testified that it was American Express Services Europe Limited, an agent, which facilitated transfers into the American Express Bank, New York.
The witness said “my lord, there was correspondence between GTBank and the customer because in the telax, you will see American Express Bank, New York.
“Personally, I did not investigate Saraki but the other investigating team must have done so. I don’t have such foreign credit card but I know it is used for transfer of foreign currencies both in debit and in credit.
“My lord, I am not an expert in banking operations but during investigation, we asked GTBank about the card in question and we were told that the
card is a foreign card and it is not in their custody; the card belong to Saraki.”
Investigation also revealed that there was massive lodgement by Saraki`s bank account managers in GTBank, staff, as well as personal aides of the defendant, the witness added.
He said part of the money lodged into the defendant’s account was used to acquire properties “and a substantial part of the money transferred to the American Express Bank in New York.
“My lord, our investigation was basically on the money laundering and in the process of investigation, we discovered that assets were involved and that is why we are here.”