A Lagos State High Court has convicted Victor Ogiemwonyi and his company, Partnership Securities Limited, for stealing nearly N1 billion and $80,000 in a case involving the sale of Ecobank shares.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Modupe Nicole-Clay of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, found the defendants guilty on two counts of stealing, contrary to Section 285(1), (9)(b) and (c) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had charged Ogiemwonyi and Partnership Securities Limited following a petition filed in October 2016 by Mr. Arnold Onyekwere Ekpe.
The anti corruption agency which announced the conviction in a statement shared via its verified Facebook account on Thursday, noted that according to the petition, Ekpe instructed the defendants to sell 96,077,872 units of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) shares, which were sold for N1,296,885,311.02. The EFCC alleged that the defendants paid only N300 million to Ekpe and diverted the balance for personal use.
The case was prosecuted by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, which called five witnesses and tendered 67 exhibits during the trial. The defence presented three witnesses, including Ogiemwonyi.
The first charge against the defendants stated that they dishonestly stole N953,535,861.57, representing part of the proceeds from the share sale. The second count alleged they stole $80,000, which formed part of accrued dividends on the shares.
In sentencing, Justice Nicole-Clay ordered Ogiemwonyi to pay a fine of N10 million, while Partnership Securities Limited was fined N20 million. The court also directed the convicts to refund the full amount stolen, both in naira and dollars, to the complainant.