A former bank executive who was convicted twenty-one years ago for defrauding a Brazilian bank of $242 million, Emmanuel Nwude, has again been sentenced to one year in prison for forging documents related to a property seized by the court in 2025.
Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court, Ikeja, at the sitting on Thursday, also jailed Mr Nwude’s lawyers, Emmanuel Ilechukwu and Rowland Kalu, for one year for forgery and dealing with forfeited property.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned the three men in March 2018 on an amended 15-count charge for allegedly forging documents for the house located at Plot Y, Mobolaji Johnson Street, Oregun, Alausa, Ikeja.
The EFCC also accused the convicts of conspiracy, forgery, creating documents without authority, dealing with forfeited property without authorisation, and transferring forfeited property to nominees.
Prosecutors said the defendants knew the property had already been forfeited to victims of crime as restitution following a judgment delivered on November 18, 2005, against Mr Nwude and several others.
The trio were also charged with making false statements to a public officer, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, attempt to pervert the course of justice, fabricating evidence, giving false evidence under oath and giving false information to the EFCC.
They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
During proceedings, the prosecution, led by Nnaemeka Omewa, called five witnesses and tendered various documents, which the court admitted as evidence.
After the prosecution closed its case on 19 March 2019, the convicts filed a no-case submission.
On 19 September 2019, Justice Dada dismissed the application and ordered the defendants to open their defence.
Mr Nwude, who is a former director of the Union Bank of Nigeria, appealed to the Court of Appeal, challenging the ruling, stalling his trial at the lower court.
But, the appellate court dismissed the appeal and instructed him to continue with his trial.
He then began his defence on 22 February 2021, by testifying on his own behalf and calling three witnesses.
Following the conclusion of the defence, the court directed both parties to file their final written addresses and initially adjourned the matter to June 25, 2025. and again to September 25, 2025 for adoption of final addresses by all counsel in the matter.
In a dramatic twist on that date, Babajide Martins, the Director of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Lagos State, appeared in court and informed the judge that he had been instructed to take over the case following a petition submitted to his office by the second defendant, Mr Ilechukwu.
But, Justice Dada, pointed out that the case was already at the stage of adopting final written addresses and questioned why the DPP would seek to take over proceedings that were virtually concluded.
The court then adjourned the matter to November 5, 2025, to allow the first defendant’s counsel file a reply on points of law to the prosecution’s final address.
During the adoption of final written addresses, Defence counsel, Chuks Nwanchukwu, Mrs F.R.A. Williams and Eze Nwokolo urged the judge to discharge and acquit the defendants of the charge.
They argued that the anti-graft agency had failed to prove its case against the defendants and that the witnesses and documentary evidence did not link them to the crime.
In his arguments, EFCC counsel, Nnaemeka Omewa urged the court to convict all defendants for the offence.
He contended that the prosecution had successfully proven the elements of the crime against the defendants and that they had not presented a credible defence to convince the court of their innocence.
Before this latest conviction, Mr Nwude and three others were convicted in 2005 by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole, now a Justice of the Supreme Court, for impersonating a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Paul Ogwuma, to defraud Banco Noroeste, a Brazilian bank, of $242 million between 1995 and 1998.
That conviction, which was the first major case for the then-newly established EFCC, also handed down on Mr Nwude and the other defendants a 25-year sentence, with his assets being seized, and he was handed down a $10 million fine payable to the government.
But, in 2006, Mr Nwude was reportedly released, and said to have recovered over $50 million of his assets.
