Deborah Akinyosoye
The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu State has affirmed the seven-year prison sentence of Onyekachi Nwosu, a former staff member of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), for his involvement in a N50million loan fraud.
Nwosu, who served as an account officer at GTB, was convicted on January 14, 2021, by Justice R.O. Dugbo Oghoghorie of the Federal High Court, Enugu.
He 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 money under false pretenses.
The EFCC accused Nwosu of fraudulently processing a N50 million loan for Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited using forged documents, including a falsified “Application to Mortgage, Consent to Mortgage, and Tripartite Legal Mortgage,” which falsely claimed that one Mrs. Adebimpe Foluke pledged her property as collateral.
Investigations revealed that Nwosu personally pocketed N40 million from the loan sum.
During the trial, EFCC prosecutor, ACE II Mainforce Adaka Ekwu, presented four witnesses and tendered 16 exhibits. The trial court found Nwosu guilty and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, Nwosu appealed the ruling.
However, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of the Appeal Court, led by Justice Zainab Baba Abubakar, the court upheld the conviction on Count 9.
The panel ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and confirmed that the appellant had admitted to collecting N40 million from the loan.
While the Court of Appeal set aside the convictions on Counts 1 through 8, it upheld the conviction on Count 9, which falls under Section 15(1)(a)(iii) and is 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.
“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 a loan, knowingly processed and facilitated the grant of a loan of Fifty Million Naira (N50,000,000.00) to Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited, and received the sum of Forty Million Naira (N40,000,000.00) as personal gratification out of the said loan after it was granted, thereby committing 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 its ruling, the Court of Appeal stated: “The evidence of the First Prosecution Witness (PW1) corroborated the confession of the appellant that he collected N40 million from the N50 million loan granted to the third respondent, Floxy Aluminum Odiofele Products Limited. “The appellant has admitted that he collected N40 million from the loan sum, which has proven the final element of the offence against him. Consequently, the conviction of the appellant on Count 9 by the trial court was in order, in my humble view,” the court held.