Court Jails Man Over $91k Fraud, Stealing
THECONSCIENCE NG reports that the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced Obinna Kingsley Anijiofor to nine years imprisonment after finding him guilty of stealing and the issuance of dishonoured cheques involving funds totalling approximately $91,000.
The judgment was delivered by the court, presided over by Justice Ismail Ijelu.
Anijiofor was arraigned on February 10, 2025, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a three-count amended charge.
The charges centred on the dishonest conversion of $32,000 (part of $91,000) belonging to a complainant, Obinna Kingsley Onwubuariri, and the issuance of dud cheques totalling N9.5 million.
According to the EFCC, the substantial funds were entrusted to Anijiofor for the importation of goods. However, the court found that he dishonestly converted a portion of the money to his personal use.
One of the counts detailed that Anijiofor, on or about December 31, 2021, issued a cheque for N6 million in the name of OKINGS Industries Supply Limited for the benefit of Ellis Suites Limited, drawn on a United Bank for Africa account.
Upon presentation in July 2022, the cheque was returned unpaid due to insufficient funds in his credit account, a clear violation of the law.
The second charge highlighted the breach of trust, stating that, “You, Obinna Kingsley Anijiofor, and OKINGS Industrial Supply Limited, sometime in 2019 at Lagos, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of $32,000, property of Obinna Kingsley Onwubuariri, paid to you for the purpose of importing goods.”
But Anijiofor pleaded not guilty to the charges, leading to a full trial where the prosecution counsel, M. K. Bashir presented three witnesses and various documentary evidence.
In his judgment, Justice Ijelu found Anijiofor guilty on all three counts. The court ruled that the sentences are to run concurrently, amounting to a total effective term of nine years’ imprisonment.
In addition to the jail term, the court ordered Anijiofor to make restitution of the $32,000 stolen funds to the complainant, Obinna Kingsley Onwubuariri.
