The Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction and seven years prison sentence of one Onyekachi Nwosu, a former employee of Guaranty Trust Bank for his commission of over N50million (Fifty Million Naira) loan fraud.
Nwosu was prosecuted by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on a nine-count charge, bordering on forgery and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N50million and was convicted and sentenced by Justice R. O. Dugbo Oghoghorie of Federal High Court, sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu on January 14, 2021.
The convict, who was an account officer of one Anyaso Chinedu, owner of Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited, used a forged document titled “An Application to Mortgage, Consent to Mortgage and Tripartite Legal Mortgage” to deceive GTB into believing that one Mrs. Adebimpe Foluke pledged her property as collateral for the said loan to Floxy Aluminium Odiofele Products Limited.
Investigations revealed that he benefited N40million from the fraudulent act by directly withdrawing it from the account of Floxy Aluminium Odiofele Products Limited.
In the course of his trial, prosecution counsel, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE II Mainforce Adaka Ekwu called four witnesses and tendered 16 exhibits which were admitted in evidence as “Exhibit EFCC 1-16.”
At the end of the trial, Justice Oghoghorie held that the EFCC proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and convicted and sentenced Nwosu accordingly.
Dissatisfied with the judgement, the convict approached the Appeal Court, praying it to set aside the judgement of the trial court, while Ekwu, the prosecution counsel prayed the court to uphold the judgment of the High Court and dismiss the appeal on the grounds that “the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.”
The Court of Appeal set aside the convictions from the trial court on counts one to eight but upheld that on Count 9.
Count nine of the charge reads: “That you, Onyekachi Nwosu, sometime in September, 2010 in Enugu within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, while being an officer of Guaranty Trust Bank and being connected with the grant of loan, knowingly processed and facilitated the grant loan of Fifty Million Naira (N50, 000,000.00) to Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited, received the sum of Forty Million Naira (N40,000,000.00) as personal gratification, out of the said loan after it was granted, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15 (1) (a) (iii) and punishable under Section 16 (1) (a) of the Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act Cap. F2 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.”
In a unanimous judgement of a three-member panel of the Appeal Court, delivered by Justice Zainab Babe Abubakar, the Court of Appeal held that “the evidence of the First Prosecution Witness, PW1 corroborated the confession of the appellant that he collected N40million from the loan sum of N50million granted to the third respondent (Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited).
“The appellant has admitted that he collected N40million from the loan sum, which has proved the last ingredient of the offence against the appellant. Consequently, the conviction of the appellant on this Count 9 of the charge by the trial court was in order, in my humble view,” the court said.
