A prosecution witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday narrated before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, how Halima Buba, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of SunTrust Bank Ltd, and the bank’s Executive Director allegedly facilitated high-value cash transactions without routing them through a financial institution.
The EFCC had on June 13, 2025, arraigned the SunTrust Bank executives on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering involving $12 million. According to the charge sheet, the alleged offences contravene provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The defendants, who pleaded not guilty, were granted bail in the sum of N100 million each with one surety in like sum.
Testifying on Thursday, the first prosecution witness (name withheld), a businessman residing in Kado, Abuja, told the court that he operates a travel agency and formerly ran a Bureau de Change.
Led in evidence by the EFCC counsel, he admitted knowing Halima Buba and said he had communicated with the second defendant, identified as Mbagwu, only via phone.
He said, “I am in court today in respect of a forex transaction between myself, the first defendant, and Aishatu Achimugu, sometime in March 2025.
“On either March 9 or 10, I received a call from Aishatu Achimugu that she needed to carry out a forex transaction through SunTrust Bank branches in Abuja and Lagos.
“I called the first defendant (Halima Buba), and she confirmed the transaction. On March 19, 2025, I got a call from Illya, a staff of Aishatu Achimugu, who was at the Abuja branch of SunTrust Bank for the payment of forex, which was to be swapped and deposited into the OceanGate Energy Oil and Gas account domiciled with Zenith Bank.
“ I confirmed this with the first defendant. I then contacted a friend, Hassan of Ashraf Energy, who sent Tijani Adamu to collect the cash payment.”
He said that same day, he received a call from Buba confirming that Illya was at the bank with the cash, after which he contacted an associate from Tripple A, who sent Abdulkadir Mohammed to collect a $1 million cash payment.
“Later, I also sent Kabiru to receive a $2 million cash payment for another swap,” he added.
When asked if he was told the purpose of the forex swap, he responded, “Yes. Aishatu Achimugu told me she wanted to buy an oil bloc and needed dollars transferred into the OceanGate Energy account in Zenith Bank.”
He said he got to know Achimugu in 2021 through Halima Buba and was informed that cash would be deposited at SunTrust Bank’s Abuja and Lagos branches for the transactions.
The witness further narrated that on March 13, 2025, Achimugu informed him that a $1 million cash deposit was available at the Lagos branch.
He said: “I contacted the first defendant, who sent a message via WhatsApp. When I reached out to the second defendant, he initially denied knowledge of the transaction. I relayed this to the first defendant, who then sent me a screenshot of their chat.”
He said the second defendant later called and authorised the cash collection. “I informed Hassan Dankali of Ashraf, who sent Muktar Miko to collect the money. On March 13, we received $2 million cash from the second defendant. On March 14, we received another $2 million,” he said.
According to him, more transactions followed.
He said: “On March 20, I got another message from Aishatu that $2 million was available for a cash swap.
“I contacted Hassan of Ashraf, who sent Sani to collect the cash. Again, on March 24, Sani received another $2 million from the second defendant for inflow into OceanGate Energy,” the witness added.
Apart from the oil bloc transactions, the witness told the court that Achimugu also requested a separate cash exchange involving naira and US dollars.
The EFCC alleged that the cumulative amount laundered through the series of swaps totals $12 million.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter to July 18, 2025, for the continuation of trial.
