From Taiye Joseph, Ilorin
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), arraigned a former Group Executive Director of Harmony Investments and Property Development Company Limited, Adebayo Sanni, before Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, over an alleged N32.1 million money laundering offence.
Sanni was docked on a seven-count charge bordering on money laundering, contrary to Section 15(2)(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012, and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
According to the EFCC, the defendant, while serving as Group Executive Director of Harmony Investments and Property Development Company Limited in 2018, allegedly processed an allocation letter in favour of one Nasiru Mahmoud. He was said to have instructed one Akinwunmi Akinola, to sell a property located in Galadimawa, Abuja, and directed that the proceeds be returned to him through friends and family members, with part of the money allegedly paid to him in cash.
The anti-graft agency further alleged that investigations showed the property allocation did not follow due process and that the proceeds from the sale were never remitted to the company. Instead, the defendant allegedly received the funds through associates and relatives and converted them to personal use.
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One of the charges reads: “That you, Adebayo Sanni, sometime in March 2019, at Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, laundered the sum of N19,901,500.00 (Nineteen Million, Nine Hundred and One Thousand, Five Hundred Naira), derived directly from an illegal act through Oliyide Ayodele’s bank account number 0025523684 domiciled with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, with the aim of disguising the illicit origin of the money and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2)(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.” The defendant pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Following the plea, EFCC counsel, Sesan Ola, urged the court to fix a date for trial and remand the defendant in custody pending the determination of the case. Defence counsel, I.O. Atofarati, however, applied for bail on behalf of his client.
After hearing arguments from both parties, Justice Awogboro adjourned the matter until July 22, 2026, for ruling on the bail application and ordered that the defendant be remanded in EFCC custody.
The EFCC also recalled that in February 2020, it secured a final forfeiture order on a property belonging to Sanni located at No. 11, Catchment Road, GRA, Ilorin. The order was granted by Justice Sikiru Oyinloye, in a non-conviction-based asset forfeiture proceeding under Suit No. KWS/125C/2019.
