December 09, (THEWILL) — The Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo on Monday sentenced two men, Chukwudi Onwuka and Eze Joshua Chinedu, to 10 years imprisonment each for defrauding businessman Tochi Obiano of ₦67,510,000 in a failed foreign exchange deal dating back to 2017.
Delivering judgment that lasted over an hour, Justice Archibong Archibong held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt on all six counts—obtaining by false pretence, stealing, and aiding and abetting—contrary to Section 1(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.
The court found that Onwuka, a former staff member of First Bank, abused his position to persuade Obiano to release large sums of money for a purported dollar purchase.
He obtained ₦39,450,000 on March 17, 2017, and another ₦28,060,000 on March 21, 2017, at the bank’s Udo Udoma Avenue branch in Uyo.
Court records also showed that Chinedu played a supporting role by encouraging the complainant to trust Onwuka and proceed with the transaction.
The judge ruled that the evidence clearly established that the second defendant aided the first in carrying out the fraud.
Justice Archibong sentenced each defendant to 10 years on each of the six counts, with the terms to run concurrently.
He ordered that the sentence be served without an option of fine.
Speaking after the verdict, Obiano expressed relief that justice had finally been delivered nearly nine years after the incident.
“It’s been a tortuous eight years and eight months, but today I feel absolutely relieved,” he said.
A former banker himself, Obiano said he had trusted Onwuka because of their shared professional background.
“When a banker speaks to you, you naturally extend trust. He used that trust to obtain my money and settle his personal debts. It is reprehensible,” he said.
He revealed that the fraud crippled his business operations, wiping out more than two-thirds of his capital at the time.
“It took out over 70 percent of our capital. It almost pushed us into liquidation. The company we were dealing with then no longer exists today,” he added.
Obiano praised the court for its firmness, saying the judgment restored his confidence in the Nigerian justice system. He also commended the Nigerian Police and the EFCC, which independently investigated the case and reached similar conclusions.
According to him, the conviction, which creates a judgment debt, offers hope of recovering the funds someday.
“Any asset of his I see today, tomorrow or forever, I will pursue. People should not enjoy the proceeds of fraud,” he vowed.
Our Correspondent reports that the conviction is one of the most significant financial crime judgments in Akwa Ibom in recent years, reaffirming the judiciary’s resolve to punish breaches of trust involving financial institutions.
