Federal Court of Appeal sitting in Sokoto State has convicted and sentenced two Chinese nationals, Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Kuai to three years imprisonment each on one count and two count charges.
Delivering the judgment, the presiding judge, Justice Abubakar Talba said the judgment was against an earlier judgment delivered by the Federal High Court Sokoto which discharged and acquitted the accused persons on three count charges bordering on conspiracy, money laundering and attempted bribery to the tune of fifty Million naira brought by the Sokoto Zonal Command of the EFCC.
Justice Talba warned the respondents who tried to frustrate the effort of the court in delivering justice, noting that Court must allow cases to be heard on merits, in an effort to justified the trust reposed on the judiciary.
Justice Talba said the EFCC had proven Counts one and two of the three Count charges before the Federal High Court beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to Justice Talba, the respondents were charged with Conspiracy and making a cash payment over the threshold provided by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended in 2012.
He said to discharge his responsibilities, the trial judge misconceived that no offense was committed which the appeal Court later established.
Justice Talba therefore convicted and sentenced the Chinese nationals to 3 years on each of the two Counts with an option of ten Million naira fine each on each count.
COV/Nasiru Malali
