Two Chinese convicted for offering EFCC officials N50 million bribe

SOKOTO – The Appeal Court, sitting in  Sokoto today convicted two Chinese nationals for offering N50 million  to bribe officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC during investigation into their failure to perform in contract awarded to them by the Zamfara State Government.

The two Chinese were convicted and sentenced to prison for conspiracy, money laundering and attempted bribery.

The convicts are Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Kuai, who were sentenced to 6 years imprisonment on two of a three count charge bordering on conspiracy, money laundering and attempted bribery to the tune of N50 Million brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Abubakar Mahmud Talba on the appeal of the EFCC against the judgment of a Federal High Court, Sokoto which discharged and acquitted the respondents,  the appellate court found the respondents guilty of counts 1 and 2, and sentenced both to 3 years imprisonment  for each of the counts, with an option of N10 Million fine on each count.

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Their company, China Zhonghao Nig. Ltd, was being investigated over contracts  awarded it  by the Zamfara State Government in the sum of over Fifty Billion Naira (N50, 000,000,000.00) between 2012 to 2019. To stop the probe, they offered the bribe to stop the EFCC from further probe of the N50 billion contract.

Count one read: ’That you Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Kuoi sometimes in May 2020 at Kasarawa area, Airport Road Sokoto, within the jurisdiction of  the High Court of Justice Sokoto State agreed to do an illegal act to wit; bribery and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 59 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law, 2019 and Punishable under Section 60 (2) of the same Law’’.

The second count read: ‘’That you Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Kuoi on the 11th of May 2020 at about 2200 hours at Kasarawa area, Airport Road Sokoto, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice Sokoto State,  being staff of China Zhonghao Nigeria Limited, offered a bribe of  fifty million naira as inducement to one Abdullahi Lawal a Public Servant (Zonal Head of Operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Sokoto Zonal Office) in order to compromise an ongoing investigation involving your company with regard to various contracts award/execution in parts of Zamfara State and thereby committed an offence of offering bribe to a Public servant contrary to Section 83 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law, 2019 and Punishable under Section 83 (2) of the same Law’’.