The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has discharged and acquitted Shamsudeen Bala, son of Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, of the N1.1 billion fraud charge against him.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had filed a 20-count charge bordering on money laundering against Mr Bala.
However, in a ruling earlier delivered on December 14, 2021, on a no-case submission, the trial judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba upheld Bala’s submission in part by dismissing 11 out of the 20 charges filed against him.
Bala was left to defend himself for failing to declare some of his bank accounts and their amount to the EFCC, identity fraud, and forgery.
But delivering judgement on Tuesday, Justice Dimgba held that the EFCC failed to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
On the allegations that the defendant forged signatures and documents to access illegal funds, the judge said the anti-graft agency’s forensic expert did not provide sufficient evidence to prove the charge.
“The law is settled that in charge of forgery, it is essential to prove that the accused person forged the document in question.
“An allegation that a document is forged is a criminal allegation that must be proved beyond reasonable doubt and not by speculation.’’ The judge said
The judge also held that the burden of proof rested on the prosecution, adding that it did not discharge the burden beyond a reasonable doubt.
“The question, therefore, is on a holistic consideration of the evidence led by the prosecution. Can it be said that there is evidence sufficient to lead the court to the conclusion that the defendant is guilty of the offence contained in the surviving counts 11 to 19?
“Looking at the case being made out as a whole in the light of the entirety of the evidence adduced on both sides, it appears to me that there are very reasonable doubts thrown up in the case.
“This will make it very difficult for any reasonable tribunal to proceed to find the defendant guilty of the charge in counts 11 to 19 on the strength of the evidence available.
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“In the final analysis, having reviewed all that has been provided, I am not convinced that the prosecution has discharged the burden placed on them by law to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt on any of the remaining nine counts of the charge.
“As the law commands, I am bound to resolve the doubts in favour of the defence, and I so resolve them.
“In consequence, I find the defendant as not guilty in all counts 11 to 19, and consequently discharge and acquit him.” The judge ruled
The judge also ordered the prosecution to refund the defendant N580,000 and 60,000 dollars and other items taken from his apartment while executing the search warrant on his apartment.
NAN