Appeal Court upturns conviction of companies linked to Patience Jonathan

15 May Appeal Court upturns conviction of companies linked to Patience Jonathan

The Court of Appeal in Lagos on Friday upturned the conviction of four companies with bank accounts holding $15.5 million that was linked to Patience Jonathan, wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

A panel of three justices of the court, in a judgment delivered via Zoom, unanimously ruled that the conviction of the four companies by the Federal High Court in Abuja in November 2016 violated the constitutional principle of fair hearing.

The convicted firms are, Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited; Seagate Property Development & Investment Co. Limited; Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited, and Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited.

Babs Kuewunmi, the trial judge at the Federal High Court in Lagos, had on November 2, 2016, convicted the four companies of money laundering involving $15.5 million kept in their Skye Bank accounts.

The judge gave the decision after some individuals speaking for the firms pleaded guilty to the offences on their behalf when the charges were read in court.

Delivering judgment on the appeals on Friday, the Court of Appeal agreed with the appellants and set aside the conviction of the four companies especially in view of the fact that the validity of the plea of guilt which was challenged by the appellants had yet to be determined before the trial court pronounced them guilty.

In the lead judgment delivered by C. N. Uwa, the appeal court held that the convictions of the four companies breached the principle of fair hearing provided for in the constitution.

Other members of the panel, Tunde Awotoye and James Abundaga, agreed with the lead judgment.