Justice Josephine Oyefeso of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ajah, Lagos, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced one Chukwudi Okonkwo Goodness to 74 years’ imprisonment for stealing and issuing dud cheques amounting to N360,000,000.00 (Three Hundred and Sixty Million Naira).
Goodness was first arraigned on June 6, 2016, by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 33-count charge bordering on stealing and issuance of dishonoured cheques.
One of the charges 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, property of one Henry Nnadike, and thereby committed an offence of stealing by conversion contrary to Sections 278 and 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”
Goodness pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, prompting a full trial.
During proceedings, prosecution counsel T.J. Banjo called four witnesses and tendered several pieces of documentary evidence to support the EFCC’s case.
Delivering judgment, Justice Oyefeso found Goodness guilty on 32 out of the 33 counts and sentenced him as follows:
- Seven years’ imprisonment on count one (stealing).
- Two years’ imprisonment each on counts three to thirty-two (issuance of dud cheques), without an option of fine.
- Seven years’ imprisonment on count 33, also without an option of fine.
He was acquitted on count two, which related to possession of documents containing false pretence.
The judge ordered that all sentences run concurrently, effectively capping the total jail term at seven years. Additionally, the convict was directed to make restitution of N215 million to the victim, Henry Nnadike, within 30 days of the judgment. The court held that failure to restitute may disqualify him from any future consideration for a fine.
Goodness’s conviction stemmed from a fraudulent scheme in which he converted and stole N360 million belonging to Nnadike, issuing multiple dud cheques in the process.