Nigeria's former chief of defence staff bought property including a $5.5 million mansion with air force money, passing off his fraudulent withdrawals as staff salaries, a court heard Wednesday.
Retired air chief marshal Alex Badeh is on trial at a federal high court in Abuja, accused of diverting 3.97 billion naira ($19.8 million, 18 million euros) for his own use.
The 59-year-old, arrested as part of a wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign by President Muhammadu Buhari, denies 10 counts of fraud, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
The finance director under Badeh when he was chief of air staff at the time of the alleged offences in 2013 said he exchanged 558.2 million naira for dollars every month on his boss' instructions.
The money was part of some four billion naira set aside for monthly salaries for air force personnel, retired air commodore Salisu Abdullahi Yushau told the court in evidence.
