Lagos court jails businessman 4 years over issuance of false documents

The Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Friday, September 20, 2024, convicted and sentenced a businessman, Bernard Okechukwu Nzenwa, to four years and 11 months imprisonment over issuance of false documents.

That was after the court held that the prosecution has convincingly proved its case against the accused person.

But the trial judge, Justice R. A. Osodi, gave the convict an option of N50m fine with a separate payment of N50m fine by the company to serve as deterrent to others.

Nzenwa, alongside his company,  Omega Maritime and Energy Ltd., was arraigned on December 7, 2022 by the Lagos Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), on a one-count charge bordering on issuance of false documents.

The count reads: “Bernard Okechukwu Nzenwa, Omega Maritine and Energy Limited, and Dr. Oluchi Nzenwa, (now at large), sometime on the 9th March, 2011, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, issued a false document titled, “BOND FOR THE RE-EXPORTATION OF IMPORTED GOODS DELIVERED WITHOUT PAYMENT OF IMPORT DUTIES”, which you purported to have emanated from Guaranty Trust Bank Plc”.

The defendant, however, pleaded “not guilty” to the charge, thereby leading to his full trial.

In the course of the trial, the prosecution counsel, G. C. Akaogu, called six witnesses, through whom several documentary evidence were presented to prove the case against him and his company.

Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Oshodi held that the prosecution effectively proved the case against the defendants beyond reasonable doubts. 

“I find the defendant guilty of false bond, false documents and fraudulent intent, “ he said.

Justice Oshodi sentenced him to four years and eleven months in prison, with an option of fine of N50m, while the company was fined N50 million to serve as a punishment and deterrent to others.

The journey to the Correctional Centre began for  Nzenwa when he issued false documents titled: “bond for the re-exportation of imported goods delivered without payment of import duties to exporters”.  

He was charged to court and found guilty of false bond, false document and false intent.