Again, Court Jails Convicted Fraudster, Nwude, Lawyers For Forgery

Twenty-one years after his initial conviction for defrauding a Brazilian bank of $242 million, serial fraudster Emmanuel Nwude was again sentenced yesterday to one year in prison for forging documents related to a property seized by the court in 2025.

Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja, who handed down the verdict, also jailed Nwude’s lawyers, Emmanuel Ilechukwu and Rowland Kalu, for one year for forgery and dealing with forfeited property.

The convict was arraigned alongside the two lawyers by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly forging documents for the house located at Plot Y, Mobolaji Johnson Street, Oregun, Alausa, Ikeja.

In her judgment, Justice Dada jailed them, having found them guilty on several counts, while acquitting them on two counts related to false statements.

The EFCC accused the convicts of conspiracy, forgery, creating documents without authority, dealing with forfeited property without authorisation, and transferring forfeited property to nominees.

The trio were also charged with making false statements to a public officer, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, attempt to pervert the course of justice, fabricating evidence, giving false evidence under oath and giving false information to the EFCC.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

During proceedings, the prosecution, led by Nnaemeka Omewa, called five witnesses and tendered various documents, which the court admitted as evidence.

After the prosecution closed its case on 19 March 2019, the convicts filed a no-case submission.

On 19 September 2019, Justice Dada dismissed the application and ordered the defendants to open their defence.

Instead of defending himself, Nwude appealed to the Court of Appeal in Appeal No. CA/LAG/CR/1244/2019, challenging the ruling.

The appellate court dismissed the appeal and instructed him to continue with his trial.

Nwude then began his defence on 22 February 2021, by testifying on his own behalf and by calling three witnesses.

While adopting their written addresses, the Defence lawyers, Chuks Nwanchukwu, Mrs F.R.A. Williams and Eze Nwokolo urged the judge to discharge and acquit their clients of the charge.

They argued that the anti-graft agency had failed to prove its case against the defendants and that the witnesses and documentary evidence did not link them to the crime.

However, EFCC counsel Nnaemeka Omewa urged the court to convict all defendants for the offence.

He argued that the prosecution had successfully proven the elements of the crime against the defendants and that they had not presented a credible defence to convince the court of their innocence.

Nwude and three others were convicted by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole, now a Justice of the Supreme Court, in 2005 for impersonating Paul Ogwuma, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to defraud Banco Noroeste, a Brazilian bank, of $242 million between 1995 and 1998.

He was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for the fraud by Justice Oyewole, who is now a Justice of the Court of Appeal. His conviction was the first major case for the then-newly established EFCC.