A Federal Excessive Court docket in Abuja has sentenced a former managing director of Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Robert Orya, to a cumulative 490 years in jail after discovering him responsible of a number of monetary crimes linked to large-scale abuse of public funds.
Justice F. E. Messiri delivered the judgment on Thursday, convicting Orya on 49 separate counts filed by the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee (EFCC).
The offences included prison breach of belief, fraud, misappropriation of funds, impersonation, official corruption, and abuse of workplace.
The court docket imposed a 10-year jail time period on every depend, ordering that the sentences run consecutively, bringing the overall sentence to 490 years.
Orya served as managing director of NEXIM Bank between 2011 and 2016. Throughout that interval, prosecutors stated he exploited his place to unlawfully channel bank funds to a personal firm, Luxurium Leisure Companies Restricted, which he allegedly included utilizing fictitious identities with out the consent or data of the named people.
In accordance with the EFCC, Orya permitted and facilitated mortgage disbursements of greater than ₦1.36 billion to the corporate, with the funds remaining unpaid for a number of years.
Investigators stated the transactions shaped a part of a wider fraud scheme estimated at about ₦2.4 billion.
EFCC counsel, Samuel Ugwuegbulam, advised the court docket that the defendant bypassed inside controls and violated banking procedures to authorise the amenities, utilizing the shell firm as a conduit to siphon public funds below the guise of reputable lending.
The anti-graft company stated Orya’s actions undermined the mandate of NEXIM Bank, which was established to help non-oil exports and supply improvement financing to Nigerian companies.
Orya was arraigned in November 2021 and pleaded not responsible to all prices, resulting in a full trial that spanned a number of years.
In delivering judgment, the court docket held that the prosecution proved its case past affordable doubt, counting on documentary proof, witness testimony, and monetary data tracing the move of funds.
Authorized analysts say the ruling represents one of the extreme sentences handed down in a monetary crime case involving a senior government of a government-owned monetary establishment, underscoring the judiciary’s hardening stance on corruption-related offences.
The conviction provides to a rising record of high-profile fraud circumstances pursued by the EFCC as authorities intensify efforts to carry former public officers and executives accountable for monetary misconduct.