Money laundering: Okupe pays conviction fine, walks

The Director General of the Presidential Council for Labour Party, Dr Doyin Okupe, has paid N13m for the jail term he got for money laundering offence.

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, in a judgement, had found Okupe guilty in 26 out of the 59 counts preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Justice Ojukwu had ordered that the 26 counts, which attracted 2-year jail-term each, would run concurrently, meaning, the convict would only spend two years in prison.

The judge, however, gave an option of N500, 000 in each of the counts, amounting to N13 million, which must be paid before 4.30pm on Tuesday.

She ordered that if Okupe failed to meet the option of fine within the time frame, he should be taken to Kuje Correctional Centre to serve his prison term.

However, a check at the court about 6pm showed that  Okupe, who a former Senior Special Assistant on Media to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan,  had paid the money.

The judge held that Okupe was found guilty of contravening Sections 16(1)&(2) of the Money Laundering Act, for accepting cash payments without going through financial institution, in excess of the threshold allowed under the Act.

Okupe was said to have received N240m in cash from the Office of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retired).