The First Prosecution Witness, PW1 in the ongoing trial of Kore Holdings Limited, , Temitope Erinomo, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, told Justice J. O. Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court Abuja, that the company didn’t report its activities to the appropriate authority under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is prosecuting Kore Holdings Limited on a four -count amended charge alongside Muhammed Kuchazi (now deceased), for failing to comply with the requirements to report its activities to the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and failing to develop programmes to combat money laundering and other illegal acts.
One of the counts reads: “That you Kore Holdings Limited, being a Designated Non-Financial and signatory to the bank account of Kore Holdings Limited; sometime in court, failed to develop programmes to combat money laundering and an Internal Audit Unit to ensure compliance and effectiveness of measures contrary to Section 16(1)(f) read together with Section 9(1)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 16 (2)(b) of the same Act.”
Count four reads: “That you Kore Holdings Limited, being a Designated Non-Financial Institution; and Muhammed Kuchazi (now deceased), being a director of and signatory to the bank account of Kore Holdings Limited; sometime in May 2014, in Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, failed to develop programmes to combat money laundering and other illegal acts, to wit: failure to conduct regular trainings for employees of Kore Holdings Limited to ensure compliance and effectiveness of measures taken to enforce the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 (as amended), contrary to Section 16(1) read together with Section 9(1)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 16 (2)(b) of the same Act.”
Erinomo, led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Bala Sangha, told the court that the defendant is a Designated Non-financial Institution, which under the Money Laundering Act, is mandated to file reports of its activities but failed to do so.
“As a DNFI, the company has an obligation to comply with certain reporting and compliance obligations, the reporting obligations include; that they make declaration of their business activities, it also include filing certain transactions called currency transactions report, appoint compliance officers, set up internal audit system to ensure the effectiveness of the compliance in place, and they must also have conducted compliance for their staff. We found out that Kore has not made a declaration of its activities, and has also not made any report of its business activities in accordance with the Money laundering Act,” he said.
According to the witness, SCUML reported its findings to the EFCC, when the Commission requested information on the activities of the Company.
“We wrote a letter stating our findings from the offsite inspection and reviews we conducted; we affirmed that Kore is a DNFI by its activities of consultation and construction and that the company has not filed any report in respect of its transactions,” he added.
Continuing, Erinomo informed the court that Kore Holdings has affiliation with Process and Industrial Development, P&ID, a company involved in series of money laundering litigation and filed a $9.6b case against the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“They have affiliation with the Process and Industrial Development Limited, P&ID, and the company was involved in a series of money laundering litigation at that time, and it was a company that filed a $9b case against the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, he said.
The judge thereafter adjourned the matter till March 12, 2025, for continuation of trial.
