The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Monday, November 22, 2021, re-arraigned a Commercial Director of the Process and Industrial Development, (P&ID) Limited, Mohammed Kuchazi before Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Kuchazi and his company, Kore Holdings Limited are being prosecuted on an eight count charge bordering on failure to comply with the regulations of the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, as stipulated by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act.
At the resume hearing today, prosecuting counsel Bala Sanga told the court that the matter is for arraignment, and that the defendant was first arraigned before Justice Giwa Ogunbanjo had has been transferred out of jurisdiction, hence the for re-arraignment.
He requested that the charge be read to the defendant to take his plea.
Count one of the charge reads: “That you Kore Holdings Limited, being a Designated Non-Financial Institution; Muhammed Kuchazi, being a Director of and signatory to the bank account of Kore Holdings Limited, sometimes in May 2014, in Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, failed to comply with the requirements of submitting, to the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, a declaration of the activities of Kore Holdings Limited contrary to Section 16(1) (f) read together with section 5(1) (a) (ii) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 16 (2)(b) of the same Act”.
Another count reads; “That you Muhammed Kuchazi, being a director of and signatory to the bank account of Kore Holdings Limited, sometime in May 2014, in Abuja, within the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, aided Kore Holdings Limited in failing to develop programmes to combat money laundering and other illegal acts, to wit: failure to designate at management level a compliance officer within any strata of Kore Holdings Limited, contrary to section 16(1) (f) read together with section 9(1) (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and you thereby committed and offence contrary to section 18 (a) of the same act and punishable under section 16 (2) (b) of the same Act”.
The defendant pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him.
In view of his not guilty plea, Sanga requested for a trial date and told the judge that the defendant was granted bail by Justice Ogunbanjo.
The judge thereafter, granted him bail on the same term, and adjourned the matter to February 1, 2022 for trial.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
