Emeka Ekwunife, who was accused of stealing by fraudulent conversion on eight counts, was found guilty by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Ekwunife was charged on July 14 at the Lagos State Special Offenses Court in Ikeja.
According to information obtained, the case between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chukwuemeka Ekwunife and Structured Energy Limited, which had been pending in court since 2016, was finally resolved today after the troubled businessman was found guilty on all six counts and given a 10-year sentence with the option of a N50 million fine by the presiding judge, Justice S. Solebo.
This newspaper has conducted additional research and discovered that Ekwunife has previously been remanded in prison custody for an alleged theft of N434.1 million.
BACKGROUND
The EFCC alleges that Ekwunife and his company, Structured Energy Ltd, dishonestly converted N99.6 million, the property of Napal Oil and Gas Services Ltd, for personal use on November 19, 2013.
Ekwenife converted the sum of N85 million and N3 million to his personal use property of Nepal Oil and Gas ltd. between June 4, 2015, and October 28, 2013.
The defendant converted N3.5 million from Nepal Oil and Gas’s personal use property between November 4 and November 7, 2014. The defendant converted N130 million from his company to his personal use on November 28, 2013, according to the commission.
The commission also revealed that on June 24, 2015, the defendant and his company also stole N88 million in addition to the N25 million that was stolen. The EFCC claimed that sections 285 (1) and 278 (b) of Nigerian criminal law applied to the offence.
