‘Gwarzo got car grant in compliance with board resolution’

A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of the suspended Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr Mounir Gwarzo, on Friday, informed a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at   Maitama, Abuja, that the car grant collected by the DG was in compliance of a board resolution.

Gwarzo alongside the Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services in the Commission, Zakwanu Garuba, were arraigned before Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, sitting at Maitama, Abuja, by  the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), on behalf of the Federal Government,  on a five-count charge bordering on fraud.

ICPC accused Gwarzo of committing fraud to the tune of about N115 million in June 2015, when he held forth as SEC Director-General.

It alleged that the suspended DG received the sum of N104,851,154.94 as severance benefits when he was yet to retire, resign or disengage from the service of SEC and conferred a corrupt advantage upon himself when he received the sum of N10,983,488.88 in excess of car grant payable to him.

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Garuba, on the other hand, was accused by ICPC of allegedly conniving with Gwarzo to commit the fraud.

While testifying yesterday as the second prosecution witness (PW2) in the case, the witness, Ajao Akintade, stated that the monetised car grant collected by Gwarzo was in compliance with the resolution of the SEC Board.

According to him, the monetised grant, according to the resolution, was based on the current market value of new vehicle, adding that the grant was given every three years and it was non-refundable.