Saraki lied, disputed assets bought with bank loan – Witness

The trial of the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on false assets declaration resumed at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Monday with more revelations that the properties in dispute located in Lagos were purchased with loans and declared in his Assets Declaration Form as such.
The prosecution witness, Michael Wetkas, under cross examination by the defence counsel, Paul Usoro (SAN), admitted that the assets form of Saraki for 2007 indicated that on July 11, 2007, the Senate president declared the assets as acquired with loan obtained from the bank.
The witness however added that four years after, the same properties were declared as having been acquired from proceeds from commodity business of the defendant.
Wetkas, who was asked to read the bank statement of the defendant, told the Code of Conduct Tribunal that the loans obtained to purchase the properties in dispute have been liquidated prior to the 2011 declaration.
According to the witness, who is an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the repayment of the loans were made in five trenches between May 2007 and May 2008.
Wetkas said: “The first payment was made in May 2007, the second was August 2, 2007, the next was November 2, 2007, the next was February 1, 2008 and the last one was paid in May 2, 2008.”
When asked if he has any evidence that the funds used to repay the loans was from the Kwara State Government, the witness, however, refused to answer directly, but later admitted that he did not mention Kwara State Government in his earlier evidence.
He insisted that the manner the loans were repaid contravened the money laundering Act.
When reminded that if the offence was that of money laundering, the CCT should not be the court to try Saraki, Wetkas kept quiet.
In his reaction, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, argued that earlier during investigation, it was proven by some people that the money lodged in GTB was given to them by Saraki in the Government House.
Usoro had referred the witness to counts two and three of the charges against Saraki, which accused him of false declaration of assets while in office as Kwara State Governor as well as using his position as governor to abuse the rights of people of the state.
Wetkas in the course of cross examination, admitted that five other assets were declared and that one common denominator in all the assets indicated that they were acquired with proceeds from sale of rice and sugar and that they were all acquired by Saraki before he became governor in 2003.
He said: “For instance, the first property was acquired in 1990, the second was in 1996, the third was in 1991, the fourth was in 1992, the fifth was in the year 2002, while the last property in question was bought in 2006.
“On page eight of an exhibit tendered earlier before the court, the property was declared and was captured correctly in his assets form as ‘bank loan’ and the amount of loan indicated appropriately.
“After the end of tenure, by law, he was supposed to make another declaration on assumption of his second tenure and going through the exhibit four, the declaration form read July 11, 2007 and going through the form, on page five, the property was declared and equally indicated as having been acquired with bank loan for N496 million.”
Still under cross examination, Wetkas admitted that he neither investigated the Kwara State Government fund nor the business structure of the Senate president.
He also admitted that Carlisle Properties and Investment Limited, a private company, and not Saraki as an individual, acquired the property at Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
At about 2.35pm, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), through Usoro, pleaded with the tribunal for an adjournment.
But Jacobs objected, stressing that the witness should be made to complete his evidence.
At the end, the tribunal adjourned further trial till Tuesday.