The trial of Halima Buba and Innocent Mbagwu, top executives of SunTrust Bank, continued on Friday before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, with a key prosecution witness confirming the receipt of $12 million in cash allegedly facilitated by the defendants.

The first prosecution witness (PW1), a bureau de change operator, told the court that the funds were handed over for onward transfer to accounts belonging to Aisha Achimugu, owner of Ocean Gate Energy Oil and Gas, whose account is domiciled in Zenith Bank Plc.

Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, the witness stated that the transactions occurred between March 10 and 24, 2025, at both the Abuja and Lagos branches of SunTrust Bank. According to him, although he maintains both naira and dollar accounts with the bank, none of the funds passed through his accounts.

“I received $12 million in cash from Aisha Achimugu during that period. It was a cash swap, and none of the money went through my account,” the witness told the court.

He further testified that after news of Achimugu’s arrest surfaced on social media, he shared the information with the first defendant. “I also recall receiving another $1.8 million in tranches from Aisha Achimugu for conversion into naira,” he added.

During cross-examination, defence counsel Johnson Usman, SAN, attempted to tender a number of documents, including charge sheets, extra-judicial statements, and a certificate of identification. However, the attempt was blocked by the prosecution on the grounds that the defence had failed to present Certified True Copies (CTCs) as required by law.

Oyedepo argued that the documents ranging from SunTrust Bank correspondence with the EFCC to statements by the defendants and other witnesses could only be certified by officers of the EFCC in custody of the originals.

“The documents from Page 10 to 12 can only be certified by EFCC officials. Pages 13 to 31 contain bank account statements forwarded by SunTrust Bank to the EFCC. Pages 32 to 83 are extra-judicial statements that must meet the conditions outlined in Section 232 of the Evidence Act,” Oyedepo submitted.

He further noted that documents from Page 84 to 181 had already been tendered as Exhibit P1, and