Justice S. N. Odili of the Anambra State High Court, sitting in Onitsha has convicted and sentenced Nwachukwu Placidus, a former manager of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Onitsha branch, to a total of 121 years in prison for misappropriating a customer’s fixed deposit fund.
The fund, which totalled N112,100,000 (one hundred and twelve million, one hundred thousand Naira only) for personal use, was stolen by the said manager of the bank.
He was then charged with sixteen counts of forgery, theft, obtaining by false pretence, and uttering by the Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday, March 27, 2018.
One of the counts states: “Nwachukwu Placidus obtained the sum of (N112,100,000) One Hundred and Twelve Million, One Hundred Thousand Naira only, from Idemili Microfinance Bank between February 2009 and November 2014 in Onitsha, Anambra State within the jurisdiction of the Anambra State High Court of Nigeria with intent to defraud under the pretence that you have placed the said money in a fixed deposit account with First City Monument Bank PLC for it, which pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence.”
When the allegations were read to him, he entered a not-guilty plea, paving the way for his trial.
Throughout the trial, the EFCC called four witnesses and produced numerous pertinent documents that were accepted into evidence with the assistance of its attorney, Mainforce Adaka Ekwu.
Judge Odili sentenced the convict to nine years in jail on count three, four years on count four, and nine years on charges five through sixteen, respectively, finding that “the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt” in his ruling.
Based on charges 1 and 2, he was released. The sentences will flow one after the other. The prisoner was additionally ordered by the court to return the aforementioned amount to Idemili Microfinance Bank, his victim.
The petitioner, Idemili Microfinance Bank LTD, claimed that N112,100,000 was given to Placidus, the branch manager of FCMB in Onitsha, in exchange for a fixed deposit. This was the beginning of Placidus’ trip to the Correctional Center. But when the petitioner went to the bank to stop and take the deposit, the bank said it had not received the said funds.
After receiving the petition, the EFCC moved quickly to investigate, and it was discovered that the prisoner had taken the money and given the petitioner a fictitious fixed deposit certificate.
