A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday granted former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva bail in the sum of N100m.
Justice Adamu Bello also ordered him to produce a surety in like sum.
Bello stated that the said surety must be “a responsible citizen of Nigeria”, who is a resident of the Federal Capital Territory.
He said the surety must be the owner of a landed property in the FCT, and the said landed property must not be worth less than the bail sum, N100m.
Sylva was also ordered to submit his passport to the court.
Adamu adjourned the case till September 19 for tentative date of trial.
Sylva was on Tuesday remanded in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after he was arraigned for six counts of money laundering and advance fee fraud amounting to about N6.4bn.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Sylva fraudulently induced Union Bank Plc to deliver the sum of N2bn to the Bayelsa State Government under the false pretence of using the amount to augment salaries of government workers.
Sylva was also alleged to have, on January 22, 2010, conspired with other unnamed persons to convert to his personal use the sum of N380m belonging to the state, through the account of one Habibu Sani Maigidia, a bureau de change operator with Account No. 221433478108, in Fin Bank, Plc.
Other crimes allegedly committed by Sylva included the conversion of property valued at N50m and N20m, all belonging to the state government.
The governor was charged for allegedly contravening Section 17 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition Act), 2004, as well as Section 8 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2004.-PUNCH
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