Former Special Adviser to Dan Abia, former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, George Turnah, and two others were found guilty and given six years in jail by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for collecting money via false pretenses.
The two other defendants, Ebis Orubebe and Uzorgor Chidebere, were also found guilty of money laundering, conversion of funds, and forgery in violation of Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and were sentenced alongside Turnah under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
The defendants were initially charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in May 2017 and re-charged on January 25, 2021, on 23 counts related to gaining by deception, money laundering, and abuse of office totaling N2,894,500,000.
This information was provided to newsmen in a statement released on Monday by EECC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren.
They were incarcerated on September 7, 2023, after being found guilty of the allegations brought against them by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, according to the statement.
They entered a “not guilty” plea to the allegations, according to the statement.
It further stated that I. Agwu, the prosecution attorney, called numerous witnesses and provided evidence to support the defendants’ guilt.
They were found guilty by Justice Mohammed, and he sentenced them to two years in jail, starting on the day of their arrest.
The first defendant was given the option of paying N1,000,000 as a fine, while the second and third defendants were each required to deposit N500,000 into the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Consolidated Revenue Account.
The fourth, sixth, and tenth defendants also had to pay back N180,000,000. The first criminal received N5,000,000, the sixth and tenth received N100,000,000, and Optimal Standard received N50,000,000 as further restitutions. They must be given up to the NDDC.
Others include N46,760,843.61, N494,371.86, N13,000,000, and N23,500,000 that the 9th, 4th, 2nd, and 3rd defendants will each forfeit to the NDDC.