Abuja: A Supreme Court judge in Nigeria was charged on Monday with money laundering and immigration offences, the latest development in a controversial crackdown on the country’s judiciary.
Justice Sylvester Ngwuta was one of seven judges arrested in October during an unprecedented nationwide sting operation by Nigeria’s secret police in connection with alleged corruption.
Ngwuta appeared in a Federal High Court in the nation’s capital of Abuja in connection with laundering over $1.7 million (Dh6.2 million) in naira, dollars and pounds between January and October 2016.
Prosecutors alleged Ngwuta was in unauthorised possession of multiple passports, including diplomatic passports.
The 65-year-old, who appeared nonplussed in court wearing a blue suit with a red tie and matching pocket-square, pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Defence lawyer Kanu Agabi argued for judge John Tsoho to release Ngwuta on bail, but prosecutor Charles Adeogun-Phillips objected, saying Ngwuta tried to tamper evidence following his arrest.
Adeogun-Phillips told the court that Ngwuta made a phone call in an attempt to remove three luxury cars from his house.
The prosecutor added that Ngwuta also asked someone to remove two bags — one with 27 million naira and the other with documents — in his bathroom that were eventually recovered by investigators in November.
Ngwuta was granted 100 million naira bail ($317,000) with the judge adjourning his case to December 7 for trial.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was voted into power in 2015 vowing to stamp out endemic graft in the West African nation.
But critics have claimed that his anticorruption crusade comes at the expense of the country’s economy, which is in the throes of a recession.
