Ex-NDDC Director Tuoyo Omatsuli’s Fraud Trial Judgment Set for March 3

Justice D. E. Osiagor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, December 5, 2025, adjourned till March 3, 2026 for judgment in the alleged N3.6bn fraud involving a former Executive Director, Projects, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Tuoyo Omatsuli.

Omatsuli is standing trial alongside Don Parker Properties Limited, Francis Momoh, and Building Associates Limited on a 46-count amended charge bordering on conspiracy, gratification and money laundering to the tune of N3.645bn brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges preferred against them, thereby leading to their full trial.

In the course of the trial, prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho SAN, had called 16 witnesses and tendered 34 exhibits, including bank statements, properties’ documents, corporate filings and an earlier final forfeiture order granted against several assets connected to the defendants.

Following the no-case submission filed by the defendants, the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, reviewed the evidence and directed that all defendants must enter their defence, having found that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against them.

At the resumed sitting on Friday, Iheanacho, in his final address, recalled that the EFCC received an intelligence indicating that Starline Consultancy Services, a company engaged by the NDDC to recover statutory levies owed by oil and gas companies, had paid out large sums in suspicious circumstances.

He stated that Starline Consultancy, having recovered over N100 billion for the NDDC and earned about N10.2 billion in commission, allegedly paid N3.645 billion of this amount as unlawful gratification to the first defendant through Building Associates Limited, a company operated by the third defendant.

The payments, he also stated, were made in tranches over a two-year period.

“The Commission also established that the funds were channeled through a series of transfers designed to disguise their origin.

“Parts of the funds were further converted to the United States Dollars through third-party accounts and delivered to the first defendant.

“The proceeds were eventually used for the acquisition of several high-value properties in Lekki, Lagos and other locations.

“Though registered in the name of Don Parker Properties Limited, a company controlled by the first defendant during the material time, payments for the properties were consistently made by Building Associates Limited using funds traced to Starline Consultancy,” he stated.

The assets in question, he also stated, had earlier been forfeited to the Federal Government in separate civil forfeiture proceedings.

According to him, “Testimonies from bank officials, NDDC staff, property vendors, the contractor who facilitated the Dollar exchanges, and the EFCC investigating officer confirmed that the fourth defendant played no legitimate role in the debt recovery engagement and that the sub-contract letter subsequently issued to Building Associates Limited was back-dated merely to conceal the illicit transactions.

“The evidence further showed that the first defendant was not only a signatory to the accounts from which payments to Starline Consultancy were approved, he was also the directing mind of Don Parker Properties Limited at the material time.

Several witnesses confirmed that transfers from Starline Consultancy were made on the instructions of the first defendant and his colleague, the then Executive Director of Finance, who admitted that he and the first defendant supplied account numbers, including those of Building Associates Limited and companies operated by PW1, to the Managing Director of Starline Consultancy for what they described as “appreciation”.”

The EFCC also noted that both Don Parker Properties Limited and Building Associates Limited, being real estate companies, were required by the law to be registered as Designated Non-Financial Institutions (DNFIs) and to file periodic currency transaction reports in compliance with the Money Laundering Act and the 2013 SCUML Regulations.

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However, evidence before the court showed that they failed to fulfil these statutory obligations.

In urging the court to convict the defendants, the prosecution submitted that the payments received from Starline Consultancy and the properties acquired therefrom constitute unlawful proceeds arising from corrupt gratification within the meaning of the ICPC Act, and therefore qualify as predicate offences under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

The prosecution also argued that the defendants engaged in deliberate acts of concealment, conversion, transfer and retention of proceeds of unlawful activities.

He further stated that the testimonies of the defendants were riddled with contradictions and unsupported by documentary evidence.

While adopting its final address, the Commission, through the prosecution counsel, submitted that it had proved all charges against the defendants beyond reasonable doubts and also urged the court to so hold.

The case was adjourned till March 3, 2026 for judgment.