The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Monday opened criminal proceedings against Amadu Sule, managing director of TMDK Terminal Limited, accusing him of laundering more than N311 billion through multiple bank accounts.
Sule was arraigned before the federal high court in Kaduna on five counts linked to money laundering and the unlawful retention of alleged fraud proceeds. He pleaded not guilty.
According to court filings, investigators traced the funds to accounts controlled by Sule at Fidelity Bank, Stanbic IBTC and Providus Bank. The money, ICPC said, moved through the accounts under the guise of payments for petroleum product supplies.
Read Also: ICYMI: Trump threatens Iran-linked trade, oil hits seven-week high, other global stories
The anti-graft agency told the court that the funds originated from several companies, including INT Towers Limited, IHS Nigeria Limited, IHS Towers NG Limited and Boaz Commodities Limited, and that Sule “ought reasonably to have known” the transactions were not legitimate.
Prosecutors further alleged that Sule and TMDK Terminal Limited retained tax components arising from the transactions despite being aware that the underlying deals were fraudulent, an offence that attracts stiffer punishment under Nigeria’s money laundering laws.
The charges are brought under sections 18(3) and 18(4) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which criminalise the knowing retention of illicit proceeds.
The justice presiding adjourned the case to January 15 to hear arguments on the defendant’s bail application.
Sule is known to have business and political ties to Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State. He is the second figure linked to the former governor to face prosecution by the ICPC in recent months.
In January 2025, the commission arraigned Jimi Lawal, a former el-Rufai aide, on separate allegations of fraud and money laundering.
