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5/ The hearing's begun and news already. The prosecutor has announced that they have received documentation from Switzerland that the Swiss authorities have agreed the use of in the trial. The prosecutor intends to use the evidence in questioning. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
6/ Armanna is asked about the attempted of transfer of the $1.1bn through Switzerland and a company controlled by Italian businessman and former envoy Falcioni. He says he warned that transferring the money through Falcioni and an Italian connected bank (BSI Lugano) was risky.
7/ Armanna says Eni's current CEO Claudio Descalzi proposed using a different bank for the transfer and said that Nigerians should be in charge of the transfers of the money, not Italians.
8/ Armanna says he discussed at a meeting in June 2011 with Descalzi and other Eni executives a private jet flying cash from Nigeria to Europe. The prosecutor says the money didn't get to Nigeria until August. Armanna says his memory for dates may be off.
9/ Armanna claims that a presidential bodyguard showed him photos of a trolley with $50m in cash, like one used by the military for weapons, more than 1.5m high. The money was allegedly put on a plane but he doesn't know where the plane went.
10/ Armanna says the bodyguard, Victor Nwafor, told him the money was for Nigerian officials. He says Nwafor talked about the relationship between Goodluck Jonathan and Diezani Alison Madueke and said Jonathan never stopped her doing anything.
11/ Armanna says that Etete was fine paying hundreds of millions of dollars to the "political sponsors" of the deal but doesn't remember anyone specifically being named as a recipient, several ministers and senators were discussed but claims not to know who actually got money.
12/ Armanna explains that the transfer of Shell and Eni's money would not have been legal with involvement of the Nigerian House of Representatives, who determine how government money can be spent.
13/ Armanna is asked about an email between Shell executives discussing the letter asserting Malabu's right to OPL 245 as "an attempt to deliver significant revenues to GLJ as part of any transaction". He says the letter was necessary for Eni to be sure they could buy real rights
14/ Armanna is asked about the transfer of $1.2 from former Nigerian AG Bayo Ojo into his accounts that he described as inheritance. He says he has known Ojo since 2012 and had business with him in Nigeria, unconnected to Eni.
15/ Armanna says he didn't know Ojo and Falcioni were working together on the OPL 245 money transfer. The prosecutor says Armanna's emails showed Ojo was advising on the attempted transfer of money to a Lebanese bank. Armanna says he got the emails later and didn't read them.
16/ Armanna is asked if there is a connection between Bayo Ojo receiving $10m from the deal and then him sending Armanna over $1m just five months later. Armanna denies that there's a connection and says it came from separate business.
17/ Armanna is asked if the money he received from Ojo was for helping Ojo get paid by Dan Etete. Armanna says he was in no position to help anyone, he had no power over who got what money and Ojo wasn't involved in the deal.
18/ Armanna was asked to recap how he was fired from Eni. He starts saying that it was a hard time for him, how his wife was pregnant at the time, but breaking into tears he halts his testimony and leaves the room to collect himself.
19/ Armanna says that former Eni CEO Scaroni had wanted him fired. When Descalzi because CEO he hoped to come back to Eni but when Descalzi gave an interview criticising Armanna in 2014, Armanna responded by releasing his statements about the OPL 245 deal to the Italian press.
20/ Armanna says that he thought Piero Amara was the person to help build bridges with Eni. In around 2016 Amara then told Armanna to quieten his criticism of Eni in exchange for getting him work in Nigeria.
21/ Armanna says he met Amara in Rom and Amara asked him to change his testimony about "political sponsors" in OPL 245. Armanna says Amara gave him a sheet of paper with what he should say. Armanna then copied this into his new statement.
22/ Armanna says in exchange he wasn't offered money but he was offered work at Eni, some business in Dubai and more business in Nigeria. He says he thought Amara represented Descalzi.
23/ The prosecutor presents an email between Armanna and his lawyer. In it Armanna disagrees with approach of him giving evidence on the case, but Armanna says he was told to write the email by Amara and he sent it to Eni's lawyers as well.
24/ Armanna says he has realised that withdrawing his testimony would have been a suicidal legal strategy so he had to speak out including by explaining these emails.
25/ That's the end of the prosecutors' questions and that wraps up today's hearing. Armanna's defence lawyer and cross-examination will continue later this week and then the trial will continue with other defence witnesses appearing from September after Italy's summer break.
26/ For more information about the case do check out the shellandenitrial.org website for original documents and @Global_Witness information hub for more reporting. globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/o…
