CASE NUMBER 10917:

EX NAVY CAPTAIN RETIRES TO PRISON OVER N45M FRAUD

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Alleged Perpetrators(s)

Jerry Ogbonna Phillip

Location (Town / State)

Lagos State, Lagos

Date of Event

01 Oct 2021

Date of republication

01 October every year

Case category (Choose all that apply)

Case Summary

A retired Navy Captain, Jerry Ogbonna Phillip has been sentenced to 13 years in prison by Special Offences Court Ikeja, Lagos for stealing and obtaining N45million by false pretense.

Full story

Jerry Ogbonna, a retired Navy Captain, and the CEO of Obyke System Consult Limited was arraigned before justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court Ikeja, Lagos State on 13th September 2021, following his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) over stealing and acquiring N45m by deception from Diamond Bank, stating that the money was a mobilization fee from the Petroleum Ministry’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
The 9-year old case first appeared before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of the lagos State High Court in 2016 and was reassigned to Justice Dada after being dismissed on the account that the convict could not enter a plea bargain. EFCC on April 19, 2018 re-arraigned the convict on a five-count charge still following his not-guilty plea…. On one count, it read: “That you, Navy Captain Jerry Ogbonna (retd.) and Obyke System Consult Ltd, on or about the 5th day of July 2012 in Lagos, conspired among to wit: stealing of N45million, properties of Diamond Bank Plc and committed an offence contrary to Section 409 and 5(2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State No. 11 of 2011.”. Another read that Ogbonna and the company, “with intent to defraud, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of N45million properties of Diamond Bank Pic, which was erroneously paid to you by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and was later reversed into your Fidelity Bank account on the 5th day of July 2012”.
The offence was contrary to Section 285(1) and 278(1)b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The prosecution counsel led by A.B.C. Ozioko tendered pieces of evidence to prove the defendant guilty after calling 6 witnesses to the stand, following the trial commencement on 14th January 2019. The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to three years imprisonment on count one and five respectively; and seven years on count two of the charge. Justice Dada ordered that the company be wound up and pay a fine of N5million, while the convict was also ordered to make restitution of N45million to Diamond Bank.

External links/URLs

https://www.efccnigeria.org/efcc/news/7244-court-jails-ex-navy-captain-13-years-for-n45m-fraud
https://www.withinnigeria.com/news/2021/09/30/retired-navy-captain-jerry-ogbonna-jailed-13-years-for-n45m-fraud/

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