By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

The trial of Esai Dangabar, a former Director, Police Pension Board and six others, who are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for their complicity in the N24 billion police pension scam continued, yesterday, with the star witness, Mustapha Gadanya, giving more details on the roles played by the suspects.

The other accused persons are Atiku Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula, Sani Habila Zira, Uzoma Cyril Attang and Christian Madubuke.

Gadanya, an operative of EFCC, who continued his evidence-in-chief before Justice Hussein Yusuf of the Abuja High Court, said that Dangabar opened different accounts using fictitious names to steal the police pension funds.

He said: “The Commission wrote letters to banks in respect of the accounts domiciled in Zenith Bank, UBA, Access Bank and replies were received. A search warrant was executed on Dangabar’s office.

“We discovered two draft letters to Intercontinental Bank (now Access Bank) in regards to fixed deposit in the account of E. D. Lamaura and Esai Dangaba Lamaura.

“We wrote Intercontinental Bank to furnish us with details of all the fixed deposits, and they responded.

Cash movements
“The review from Access Bank revealed that in September 2009, the first defendant placed a fixed deposit of a total sum of N76 million, while in July 2009, he placed the sum of N20 million as fixed deposit in E. D. Lamaura and Esai Dangaba Lamaura accounts, respectively.

“Turnover from the two accounts totalled N143,378,691.05 and N385,514,157.01.

“These fixed deposits were made during the time he was director of the police pension office. The signature of the depositor was his (Dangabar).”

The witness also told the court that inquiry into Dangaba’s salary account with Oceanic Bank (now Ecobank) shows that, as public servant, his earning as at April 2008 was N158.9 million, while his pension as at December 2009 was N170, 866.55.

“Between January and June 2009, the first defendant deposited over N24 million by himself and made other cash payments and deposits when he was director of the police pension office and several other deposits running into millions of Naira, which he later liquidated.

“In total, what we recovered, based on interim forfeiture by the EFCC from the accounts in Skye and two Access Bank accounts, was N1.093 billion with some fractions, which must have accumulated due to roll-over,” Gadanya added.