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ABUJA, Nigeria, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A judge on Nigeria's supreme court was charged Monday with 15 counts of fraud, including money laundering, authorities said. Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, along with seven other Nigerian judges, pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday. He was arrested last month after a raid on his home yielded cash and several different passports, officials said.
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Prosecutors also claim that Ngwuta attempted to conceal evidence in his home, including bags containing about $85,000 in cash.
"We object to bail being granted because we are of the opinion that the defendant may conceal or destroy evidence," prosecutor Charles Adeogun Philips argued in Abuja Federal High Court, asking the judge that bail be revoked for Ngwuta.
The supreme court justice, though, was granted release on $317,000 bail until his trial, with assistance from the Nigerian Bar Association, BBC News reported.
The judges are not allowed to resume presiding over their respective courts, however, until at least the conclusion of their trials.
The raids involving Ngwuta and the other judges were motivated by suspicions of corruption, and follow a pledge by President Muhammadu Buhari last year during his campaign to fight corruption. He won election and took power in May 2015.
