COURT DISCHARGES ASAI, JASPER JUMBO IN ALLEGED N3B FRAUD CASE

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has discharged Prof. Jasper F. Jumbo and Asai Jumbo of a 36-count charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, forgery and money laundering after ruling that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against them.

Justice Adamu Turaki Mohammed, in a ruling delivered on July 17, 2026, upheld the defendants’ no-case submission, holding that the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to warrant calling on them to enter a defence.

The charges stemmed from investigations initiated after members of the Jumbo Major House of Bonny, Rivers State, petitioned the then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, alleging that over N3 billion belonging to the family had been unlawfully withdrawn and diverted by the defendants.

According to the prosecution, the defendants allegedly conspired to deceive the court by forging documents and fraudulently obtaining a consent judgment, which was subsequently used to facilitate withdrawals from accounts belonging to the Jumbo Major House.

During the trial, the prosecution called two witnesses. The first witness, Darlington Dagogo Jumbo, a member of the Jumbo Major House, testified that the disputed funds comprised rent payments, lease renewal proceeds and compensation paid by Shell Development Petroleum Company (SPDC). He alleged that the withdrawals were carried out without the approval of the family’s leadership.

The second prosecution witness, a police investigator, told the court that the case originated from the petition to the Inspector-General of Police alleging fraudulent activities, conspiracy, forgery and misappropriation of family funds. He added that investigators also considered several counter-petitions before charges were eventually filed.

In his ruling, Justice Mohammed held that the prosecution failed to establish the essential ingredients of the offences charged. The court found that the evidence presented was unreliable and fell short of the legal threshold required to sustain the charges.

The judge further ruled that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case requiring the defendants to open their defence, noting that the evidence did not sufficiently prove the allegations of conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, forgery and money laundering.

He consequently upheld the no-case submission and discharged Prof. Jasper Jumbo and Asai Jumbo on all 36 counts.

The ruling effectively ends the criminal proceedings that began after the petition to the former Inspector-General of Police over the management of funds belonging to the Jumbo Major House.

In the concluding part of the judgment, Justice Mohammed stated: “I therefore resolve the issue for determination in favour of the 1st and 2nd defendants against the Prosecution… Consequently, I find the Defendants not guilty and they are accordingly discharged.”

Although the court found the defendants not guilty at the close of the prosecution’s case and discharged them, the decision followed the prosecution’s failure to establish a prima facie case, resulting in the success of the defendants’ no-case submission.