EFCC rejects offer from former chief of air staff Marshal Umar for out-out-court settlement

ECONOMIC and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials have rejected a plea bargain by former chief of air staff Air Marshal Mohammed Umar to enter into an out-of-court settlement over move he is alleged to have misappropriated.

 

Air Marshal Umar is one of those under investigation for diverting money meant to procure weapons for the Nigerian military to private use. He was arrested earlier this year and EFCC officials have seized his massive house located on 1853 Deng Xiano Ping Street, off Mahathir Mohammed Street, Asokoro Extension, Abuja, said to be worth about N860m (£3m).

 

According to the EFCC, between March and April 2012, Air Marshal Umar while serving as the chief of air staff of the Nigerian Air Force, removed the equivalent of N860,000,000 in US dollars from the accounts of the Nigerian Air Force. He then used the money to purchase the property which has now been seized and covered with EFCC logos.

 

Air Marshal Umar has, however, cooperated with the EFCC and asked to be allowed to enter into a plea bargain that would allow him to return the properties he acquired in exchange for a pardon. However, the commission has rejected an out-of-court settlement, saying instead that the plea bargain must come with at least a light sentence to serve as deterrent to others.

 

To make any headway, the EFCC wants Air Marshal Umar to refund all the funds allegedly traced to him, including the forfeiture of choice assets. Pending his acceptance of the offer, the EFCC has opted to go ahead with the trial until it gets to a convenient point for the two parties to sign an agreement.

 

 One EFCC source said: “We are aware of plans by the ex-chief of air staff for an out-of-court settlement but as a commission, we will go for plea bargain if he is ready to return all the cash credited or traced to him. When you talk of an out-of-court settlement, it is as if there is a civil disagreement between the EFCC and the ex-chief of air staff.

 

“What we have at hand is a criminal matter and the accused person must first of all admit that he committed the offence. So far, by the court records, the ex-chief of staff said he is not guilty of all the allegations against him, so let him do the needful and thereafter, he can initiate a plea bargain option which we will consider on merit."

 

Air Marshal Umar is facing trial at a Federal High Court in Abuja on seven charges which are in violation of Section 15(2)(b) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011, as amended. He is alleged to have diverted funds  from the accounts of the Nigerian Air Force to purchase six choice properties in Abuja, Kano and Kaduna states.