A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ajah has sentenced a businessman, Chukwudi Okonkwo Goodness, to 74 years imprisonment for stealing N360 million and issuing a series of dud cheques.
Justice Josephine Oyefeso delivered the verdict on Tuesday, nearly nine years after Goodness was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 33-count charge bordering on stealing and fraudulent practices.
According to the EFCC, Goodness fraudulently converted the sum of N360 million belonging to one Henry Nnadike between June and July 2015 in the Ikeja area of Lagos. The commission had filed the case in June 2016 following a petition by the victim.
The charge sheet partly reads:
“That you, Chukwudi Okonkwo Goodness, sometime between the months of June and July, 2015, at Ikeja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently converted and stole the sum of N360,000,000.00 (Three Hundred and Sixty Million Naira), property of one Henry Nnadike…”
Goodness, who pleaded not guilty to all the charges, was found guilty on 32 of the 33 counts. He was discharged on the count relating to possession of fake documents.
During trial, prosecution counsel T.J. Banjo called four witnesses and tendered several exhibits which the court admitted as evidence.
In her judgment, Justice Oyefeso sentenced Goodness to seven years imprisonment on count one for stealing. For counts three to 32 — all relating to issuance of dud cheques — he was sentenced to two years each, while he bagged another seven years on count 33. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The court further ordered Goodness to refund the sum of N215 million to the victim within 30 days. Justice Oyefeso noted that a consideration for an alternative fine may follow compliance with the restitution order.
The conviction marks another victory in the EFCC’s ongoing clampdown on economic and financial crimes.
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