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The Court of Appeal in Enugu has affirmed the conviction and seven-year prison sentence of Onyekachi Nwosu, a former employee of Guaranty Trust Bank, for committing a loan fraud exceeding N50 million.
Nwosu was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a nine-count indictment related to forgery and obtaining by false pretenses totaling N50 million, and was sentenced by Justice R. O. Dugbo Oghoghorie of the Federal High Court in Enugu on January 14, 2021.
As an account officer for Anyaso Chinedu, the owner of Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited, he utilized a forged document titled “An Application to Mortgage, Consent to Mortgage and Tripartite Legal Mortgage” to mislead Guaranty Trust Bank into accepting that Mrs.
Adebimpe Foluke had offered her property as collateral for the loan to Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited. Investigations disclosed that he personally pocketed N40 million from this fraudulent scheme by directly withdrawing it from the company’s account.
During his trial, the EFCC’s Assistant Commander, ACE II Mainforce Adaka Ekwu, presented four witnesses and submitted 16 exhibits which were accepted as evidence.
The trial concluded with Justice Oghoghorie determining that the EFCC established its case beyond a reasonable doubt, leading to Nwosu’s conviction and sentencing.
Unhappy with the ruling, Nwosu took his case to the Appeal Court, requesting the annulment of the trial court’s judgment, while Ekwu urged the court to maintain the original decision, arguing that the prosecution’s case was proven.
The Court of Appeal overturned convictions on counts one to eight but affirmed the verdict on Count 9.
This count specified that Nwosu, while associated with the loan disbursement as an officer at Guaranty Trust Bank, knowingly processed the N50 million loan for Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited and illicitly received N40 million as personal gain.
In a unanimous decision from a three-member panel delivered by Justice Zainab Babe Abubakar, the Court concluded that “the evidence from the First Prosecution Witness, PW1, supported the appellant's admission of collecting N40 million from the loan sum of N50 million granted to Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited."
“It has been established that the appellant received N40 million from the loan, fulfilling the final element of the crime against him. Therefore, I believe the trial court's conviction of the appellant on Count 9 was justified.”
