The Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a Lagos resident, Chukwuemeka Udezuka, to 12 years imprisonment for defrauding unsuspecting victims of more than ₦64 million through a fraudulent foreign exchange scheme.
Justice Rahman Oshodi convicted Udezuka after finding him guilty of dishonestly converting funds entrusted to him under the pretext of helping clients purchase United States dollars at the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Udezuka was prosecuted alongside his company, Mezu Connection Investment Limited, by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a four-count charge bordering on stealing.
According to the EFCC, Udezuka and his company collected millions of naira from four victims in 2022, promising to facilitate the conversion of the funds to U.S. dollars at the CBN rate.
However, after receiving the money, he allegedly disappeared and became unreachable, leaving the victims unable to recover their funds.
According to count one: “That you, Chukwuemeka Udezuka and Mezu Connection Investment Limited, sometime in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of ₦28,000,000 (Twenty-Eight Million Naira), being the property of Chizoba Benson Chiegwu.”
Another count alleged: “That you, Chukwuemeka Udezuka and Mezu Connection Investment Limited, sometime in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of ₦17,360,000 (Seventeen Million, Three Hundred and Sixty Thousand Naira), being the property of Hojoli Augustine Okechukwu.”
According to the anti-graft agency maintained that the offences contravened Sections 278 and 285(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
During the trial, the prosecution counsel, I.O. Daramola, presented seven witnesses and tendered several exhibits, including the defendant’s extra-judicial statements, bank records, account statements, and correspondence from financial institutions. The court admitted all the documents into evidence.
In his plea for mercy, Udezuka expressed remorse and appealed to the court for leniency. His counsel, Emeka Ezeobi, also urged the court to temper justice with mercy and consider granting the convict a lighter sentence.
Justice Oshodi, however, held that the prosecution had successfully established its case beyond reasonable doubt. The judge described the fraudulent scheme as a deliberate and premeditated act, noting that the gravity of the offence warranted a custodial sentence.
Consequently, the court sentenced Udezuka to three years imprisonment on each of the four counts. The sentences are to run consecutively, bringing the total jail term to 12 years.
Beyond the prison sentence, Justice Oshodi ordered the convict to make full restitution to all four victims. The court directed him to refund the stolen funds and file an affidavit of compliance within 90 days from the date of judgment.
The court also imposed financial penalties on Mezu Connection Investment Limited, ordering the company to pay a fine of ₦500,000 on each of the four counts.