Ex-Bank Chief, Accomplice Jailed For N67.5m Forex Fraud

The Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Division of the High Court has sentenced Chukwudi Henry Onwuka, a former Relationship Manager with a first-generation bank in the State capital, to 40 years in prison for defrauding his friend of N67,510,000 under the guise of facilitating the purchase of $157,000 Forex.

Onwuka’s co-accomplice, Eze Joshua Chinedu, whose account was used in the sleazy transactions, was also sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The presiding judge, Justice Archibong Archibong, found the 47-year-old banker guilty on all four-count charge bordering on “obtaining by false pretence, stealing, aiding and abetting, “contrary to the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and the Criminal Code Laws of Akwa Ibom State.”

Onwuka, a father of three from Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, was convicted alongside Chinedu, the Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jec-Mega World Investment Limited, whose bank account received the stolen funds.

According to Court records, the victim, Toochi Obianom, an Onitsha-based financial consultant and currency dealer, had reported the matter to the Police at the Uyo Area Command on March 23, 2017.

The petitioner recalled that on March 17, 2017, the banker called him, claiming that one of his customers, Jec-Mega World Investment Limited, had $157,000 available for sale.

Onwuka was said to have instructed him to transfer the Naira equivalent of N67.510 million to the company’s First Bank account, with the assurance that he would receive the Dollar equivalent within 30 minutes.

Trusting his longtime friend, Obianom transferred the cash in two tranches: N39,450,000 on March 17, 2017, and
Another N28,060,000 was deposited on March 21, 2017, into First Bank Account 1000455243, operated by Chinedu’s company, bringing the total to N67,510,000.

However, the promised $157,000 was never delivered, and all efforts to recover the money, according to the complainant, proved abortive.

In his statement, Chinedu admitted to allowing his account to be used but insisted that he was unaware of Onwuka’s criminal intentions, adding that the banker was his account officer and had informed him that the funds were intended for contract settlement.

“I did not know he had other sinister criminal intentions,” Chinedu testified.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the six-count charge, prompting a full trial.

During the trial, the prosecution called four witnesses, including the victim, and tendered 10 documentary exhibits, while the defendants testified in their own defence without calling additional witnesses.

However, in his judgment, Justice Archibong held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and consequently sentenced Chinedu (the 2nd defendant) to 20 years, with 10 years for each count to run concurrently.

“For the second defendant, I hereby find you guilty of counts 4 and 5 and accordingly convict you. The punishment for the offence is a term of not less than 10 years’ imprisonment without option of fine,” the Court ruled.

For Onwuka (1st defendant), Justice Archibong found him guilty on counts 1, 2, 3, and 4, and consequently sentenced him to a combined term of 40 years’ imprisonment, with each count attracting 10 years, to run concurrently.

The Court further ordered the convict to refund the N67,510,000 million to the victim.