The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has clarified the lawful dismissal of money laundering charges against Nigerian social media personality, Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky.
This clarification comes in response to recent allegations made by Bobrisky in a viral audio, where he claimed to have paid a ₦15 million bribe to unnamed EFCC officials to drop the charges.
Bilikisu Bala, head of the EFCC's prosecution team, addressed these claims during a session with a joint committee of the House of Representatives investigating corruption allegations against EFCC and Nigeria Correctional Service officials.
Bala labeled the bribery allegations as "laughable," emphasizing that the decision to drop the charges was based on legal grounds.
"We initially raised six count charges bordering on naira abuse and money laundering against Okuneye based on his confessional statement that his firm, Bob Express, was not registered with SCUML and was not rendering returns to it," Bala explained.
"However, when we wrote to SCUML on the status of the firm, the Unit responded that it was not a Designated Non-Financial Institution, Business or Profession."
Due to this clarification from the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), the EFCC found the money laundering charges unsustainable. "We cannot lawfully sustain the charges in all sincerity.
We, therefore, dropped them and relied on the four counts on naira mutilation to which Okuneye had pleaded guilty," Bala added.
Bobrisky had initially faced six-count charges—four for Naira Abuse and two for money laundering. However, after consulting with SCUML, the EFCC determined that Bob Express had not breached any laws, leading to the dismissal of the money laundering charges.
"Why did we write to SCUML if we didn’t want to include the charges? We wrote to be lawfully guided and when the Unit responded that the firm had not breached any law, on what basis should we have retained the money laundering charges?" Bala questioned, reinforcing the commission's commitment to legal integrity.
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