Justice C.J Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday ordered the release of the passport of the Senator Representing Delta North, Peter Nwaoboshi, to enable him to embark on a trip to Indonesia.

Nwaoboshi was charged with an alleged fraud of N322 million by the Economic and Crime Commission (EFCC), alongside two companies Golden Touch Construction Project Limited and Suiming Electricals Limited.

Nwaoboshi was re-arraigned before Justice Aneke, who took over the case from Justice Mohammed Idriss, who was in June elevated to the court of appeal.

The Defence Counsel, Emmanuel Kachukwu, during the trial on Friday urged the presiding judge to allow the Nwaboshi to continue with the bail earlier granted by Justice Idriss.

He also urged the judge to order the release of Nwaboshi’s Passport to enable him to travel to Indonesia on October and return October 19, 2018.

Aneke then granted the counsel’s prayer and said the passport should be returned to the court’s registrar by October 23.

He adjourned further proceedings in the case till October 25.

The charges against Nwaoboshi and his co-defendants border on conspiracy and money laundering.

The EFCC, in the charges, claimed that Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project Limited purchased a property known as Guinea House, Marine Road, Apapa, Lagos for N805m between May and June 2014.

The anti-graft agency claimed that N322 million out of the N805 million, which Nwaoboshi and the firm paid for the property, was part of proceeds of “an unlawful act, to wit: fraud.”

The EFCC alleged that the N322 million was transferred to the vendor of the property on the order of Suiming Electricals Limited. Suiming Electricals Limited was accused of aiding Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project Limited to commit money laundering on or about May 14, 2014.

The prosecution said the defendants acted contrary to sections 18(a) and15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

• Sourced from Channels TV report