FG Slams 6-Count Charge on Justice Sylvester Ngwuta over Alleged Money Laundering & Age Falsification

Justice Sylvester Ngwuta

Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, a Supreme Court Judge has been slammed with a 6-count charge of money laundering and corruption by the Federal government.

Ngwuta, alongside 6 other judges were suspended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) for alleged fraud, was accused of retaining N35,358,000; $319,596 and £25,915 in his residence, during the raid on his house by the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) between October 7 and 8.

The office of the Attorney General of the Federation, which filed the charges on Tuesday, described the sums of money “as proceeds of unlawful activity”.

According to the prosecutors, four diplomatic passports, one official, and two standard Nigerian passports, all in Ngwuta’s name were discovered in his residence during the raid.

The accused Supreme Court judge was alleged to have obtained multiple passports contrary to Section 10 of the Immigration Act, 2015, and punishable under the same Act.

He was also alleged to have made false statements to the passport office concerning his date of birth for the purpose of procuring an additional diplomatic passport for himself.

He was also alleged to have in his possession two valid diplomatic passports and thereby committed an offence under Section 10 of the Immigration Act.

The case file has not to be assigned for trial.