YAKUBU V. F.R.N. (2025) 3 NWLR (PT. 1980) 501
ON INGREDIENTS OF OFFENCE OF MONEY LAUNDERING
The provision of section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 does not require that the acceptance of the sum must be ‘payment in a transaction’ but rather provides that no person shall make or accept cash payment in excess of the sum N 5,000,000.00 or its equivalent, except in a transaction through a financial institution. The transaction mentioned in the provision is the transaction through a financial institution which is exempted from the provision constituting the offence. The two counts for which the appellant was called to enter his defence related to the allegation that the appellant received the stated sums of money in cash without going through a financial institution contrary to Section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 which prohibits the acceptance of cash by an individual beyond the permissible limit of N5,000,000.00. From the evidence as presented by the respondent, the appellant allegedly received the sums of $9,772,800 (Nine million, seven hundred and seventy two thousand, eight hundred United States Dollars only) and £74,000 (Seventy four thousand Pounds Sterling only) in cash without going through a financial institution. The fact that these sums were recovered from the appellant’s house was admitted in exhibits ‘C’ and ‘L’, the appellant’s extra-judicial statements. Based on the evidence on record, a prima facie case of the commission of the offence prescribed in section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 was disclosed against the appellant. [Atoyebi v. F.R.N. (2018) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1612) 350; Ikuforiji v. F.R.N. (2018) 6 NWLR (Pt. 1614) 142 referred to.] (P. 531, paras. E-G, Pp. 533-534, paras. G-C).